Making the Case for the New York Health Act
“City & State NY Debate” Shows that an Improved Medicare-for-All Single Payer System Would Guarantee Coverage for All New Yorkers and Save 98% Money on Health Care Costs
Dear friends,
Earlier this week, I participated in a podcast debate hosted by the media outlet City and State New York on the New York Health Act, my bill to establish an “improved Medicare for all” single-payer health plan to provide universal coverage to every New York resident, regardless of wealth, income, age or health status (A.4738, Gottfried/S.4840. Rivera). Opposing me in the debate was Bill Hammond of the Empire Center, a conservative Albany-based think tank. I think you’ll find the debate informative and interesting, which is why I’m sharing it with you today.
The Assembly Majority is committed to ensuring that every New Yorker has access to the care they need and deserve. We’ve passed the New York Health Act four times, most recently by an overwhelming vote of 94-46 on May 16, but the bill has yet to receive any consideration in the New York State Senate.
The health care system is rigged against working people, and the Trump administration and GOP leaders in Congress are actively working to make health care access even worse. I have long argued that New York can do better with an ‘improved Medicare for all’ single-payer system that covers all of us and is funded fairly. It’s clear that support is growing among the public and in the State Senate, where we now have 31 co-sponsors, including every Senators belonging to both the mainstream Democrats and the Independent Democratic Conference. When a conservative like Bill Hammond feels obliged to acknowledge, as he did six minutes into our debate yesterday, that “Single payer systems… obviously do work. Other countries do have them… I should also admit that they have lower health care costs than we do,” you know that the advocates of publicly funded universal coverage are making serious headway in the public debate on health care!
I invite you to listen to this week’s City & State podcast debate, and decide the issues for yourself. With support growing every day, I’ll keep fighting to enact universal coverage for all New Yorkers through an “improved Medicare for All” system that will provide better access to health care and save money for 98% of New York’s taxpayers!
If you’re having difficulty clicking on the links in this email, you can listen to the City & State podcast debate by entering this URL into your browser: http://cityandstateny.com/articles/opinion/the-slant-podcast/single-payer-health-care-in-new-york-could-it-work.html.
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