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WRFI (with audio): 165 New Yorkers testify on proposed New York Health Act

By Fred Balfour | November 6, 2019

At the national level, the first four Democratic primary debates discussed “Medicare for all” and how to pay for it. That topic lead all the others in total minutes.

Meanwhile, New York state’s legislature held 3 open hearings across the state to discuss the proposed New York Health Act single payer health insurance. Totaling 28 hours, over 165 people testified. 20 legislators asked questions and probed for clarity.

At last count, close to a majority of NY legislators had committed to bring the New York Health Act bill to a vote in both the senate and the assembly in the 2020 session or in about four months. If the bill passes and is signed by Governor Cuomo, New York will lead the U.S. in implementing single-payer health insurance.

Fred Balfour at the WRFI Healthcare Desk explores some of the major issues coming out of these hearings. And future programs will examine the major issues in detail.

CNHI: NY lawmakers eye ban on youth football

ALBANY – Citing growing medical evidence linking head injuries to
brain disease, several New York lawmakers have kicked off an effort to prohibit children ages 12 and under from playing tackle football.

The proposed ban would extend to not only school-sponsored football programs but also Pop Warner and youth leagues that require parental consent for children to join teams.

At a legislative hearing
Tuesday, Chris Nowinski, co-founder of the Boston-based Concussion Legacy Foundation and an expert on chronic traumatic encephalopathy
(CTE), contended prevention is now “the only tool” to curb traumatic head injuries in tackle football.

Wall Street Journal: Hearings on Single-Payer Health-Care Plans Draw Crowds Around New York

New Yorkers are waiting hours and lining up down the street to tell state legislators the same refrain: fix health care.

Workers, physicians, nurses, parents, business owners, the elderly and the infirm have been testifying at hearings around the state about the New York Health Act, which would establish universal, guaranteed health care across the state with a single-payer plan. During the most recent forum, at a public library in the Bronx last week, people filled a 150-seat auditorium to hear testimony that ultimately ended when the library closed for the day.

(Video) ABC 13 Rochester: Advocates rally and testify in front of lawmakers for single-payer health care

Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) – A proposed law could transform health care across the state. The New York Health Act would provide universal health coverage and would replace private insurance.

The proposal puts everyone under one health insurance plan, known as single-payer health care. Every New Yorker would have their health care covered by a public statewide fund, including existing federal support for Medicaid and Medicare.

The New York Health Act legislation prompted a passionate rally Thursday in front of the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester. They later moved inside the building for the state’s Committee on Health public hearing.

Margaret Marinari of Macedon is among the many who believe
single-payer health care system would keep more people from falling through the cracks. She said she’s underinsured and can’t afford to go to the doctor’s office. With her husband’s health declining, she said they’re struggling to pay for medication.

PRESS RELEASE: Patients, Providers, Labor, and Others to Testify at Legislative Hearing in Rochester on Universal Single-Payer Health Care

CONTACT:
Mischa Sogut, 518-455-4941 or 202-365-5475
SogutM@nyassembly.gov

October 2, 2019

The NY Senate and Assembly Health Committees will hold a public hearing and press conference in Rochester on October 10 on the New York Health Act.

Millions of New Yorkers with insurance go without needed health care or face serious financial obstacles, debt and bankruptcy to get it.

The New York Health Act, A.5248/S.3577, would establish universal, comprehensive single-payer health coverage, including long-term care, for all New Yorkers. The program would be publicly funded, including existing federal support for Medicaid and Medicare. New Yorkers would no longer have to pay premiums, deductibles, co-pays, out-of-network charges, or have limited provider networks.

The Rochester hearing is the second in a series of statewide hearings, with other hearings to be scheduled in New York City and the Hudson Valley. The hearings will provide an opportunity for comments and suggestions from stakeholders around the state on the New York Health Act. Video and a transcript of the first hearing, held in Albany on May 28, can be found here.

More information, including a form if you wish to be invited to testify, can be found here.

What:
Public hearing and press conference on the New York Health Act, A.5248/S.3577

Who:
New York State Assembly and Senate Health Committees; witnesses including patient advocates; health care provider organizations; labor representatives; small business; and other health care experts and advocates

Where:
Press Conference: Bausch and Lomb Parlor
Hearing: Memorial Art Gallery Ballroom

University of Rochester
500 University Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607

(The Parlor and Ballroom are across the hall from each other)

When:
Press Conference: Thursday, October 10, 9:30 AM
Hearing:Thursday, October 10, 10:00 AM

The hearing will also be webcast live at: https://nyassembly.gov/av/

###

Times-Union: At packed hearing, NY lawmakers weigh single-payer health care

At a lengthy, packed hearing on the bill held Tuesday in Albany, lawmakers heard from hospitals, health care leaders, municipal officials, patients, advocates, union leaders and others who all agreed that its goal of providing comprehensive, universal coverage to New Yorkers is laudable. But whether single-payer is the system to achieve that was the topic of spirited debate.

WAMC Radio: NY Legislature Holds Single-Payer Health Care Hearing

The New York State legislature held a daylong hearing Tuesday on a proposal to enact single-payer health care in New York. Supporters and opponents debated whether it’s the answer to the state’s health care
gaps.

Chair Richard Gottfried, a Democrat and prime sponsor of the legislation, known as the New York Health Act, laid out the problem. Millions of New orkers have some form of health coverage, he said. But many still face financial obstacles from private insurance companies in getting the care they need, because of unaffordable co-pays or coverage denials.

Patch.com – Hearing To Discuss Legalizing Marijuana Held In Lindenhurst

By Priscila Korb, 12/3/18

LINDENHURST, NY – Local officials held a public hearing in Lindenhurst on Monday morning to discuss the recreational use of marijuana in New York.

The hearing, held at Babylon Town Hall at 10:30 a.m., was the fourth of four statewide hearings related to the topic following a well-attended Assembly hearing held earlier this year.

“Forty-one years ago, New York decriminalized non-public possession of small amounts of marijuana, making such possession a non-criminal violation punishable only by a fine,” a letter announcing the meeting read. “Despite decriminalization in New York, a disproportionately high number of Black, Hispanic and Latino people continue to be arrested for marijuana-related offenses – particularly possession in public view – which often results in a criminal record that can prevent gainful employment and full participation in society.”

Several states in the U.S., as well as Canada, have recently legalized or are in the process of legalizing adult marijuana use.

“Creating an adult-use system in New York raises important issues about the economic structure and regulation of production, distribution and sale,” the letter read. “Criminal justice and public health concerns, social and economic equity demands, ensuring opportunities for smaller scale and minority-and-women-owned businesses, and other relevant regulatory matters all need to be considered.”

The local officials who attended the hearing included: assembly member Joseph R. Lentol, Chair of the Committee on Codes; assembly member Richard N. Gottfried, Chair of the Committee on Health; assembly member Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, Chair of the Committee on Governmental Operations and assembly member Linda B. Rosenthal, Chair of the Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse

Binghamton.com (video) – NYS Assembly holds hearing about recreational marijuana

November 20, 2018

VIDEO HERE

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – Elected officials are turning to the public for their thoughts on legalizing recreational marijuana. 

Some Democratic members of the New York State Assembly were in Binghamton today for a public hearing regarding the adult use of marijuana. 

Governor Cuomo has proposed legislation that would legalize the substance for adult recreational use.

It was one of four hearings across the state to gather feedback.

Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard Gottfried says it’s looking likely that legalization will be passed, the main question is how. “Not only about is it a good idea or bad idea. But also about what are the mechanics of it. Creating a new industry is a complicated thing. We haven’t done that in New York since the end of prohibition in 1933. How do we want to organize these businesses? So there are a lot of issues to be dealt with.”

Gottfried says among the concerns brought up include how to test if someone is driving under the influence of pot, how to limit access for children and who would be the major players in the industry.

He supports legalization because he says it would save money spent on law enforcement, lower the number of people incarcerated for non-violent crimes and bring in tax revenue for the state.

Gay City News: Legal Pot Movement on Two Fronts This Week

By Nathan Riley, October 19

The Albany County district attorney made an impassioned plea for taxing and regulating the sale of marijuana to adults at a State Assembly hearing October 16, saying ending the war on pot is a logical next step in the process that began in 2004 with the repeal of the draconian Rockefeller era drug laws.

David Soares, who is also the president of the New York State District Attorneys Association, said there is disagreement on this issue within that group but that “several” DAs had similar views. Soares has intensively studied Colorado’s example as the first state to permit adult use of marijuana and emphasized that the new tax revenues from legalization must restore “vulnerable” communities where residents have been arrested by the tens of thousands while pot use by white New Yorkers was overlooked by law enforcement.

“Real Courage,” he told a joint hearing of several Assembly Committees on adult use of marijuana, is about addressing the “aftermath” of the war on drugs, winning the peace with a plan for “reconstruc­tion” of neighborhoods unsettled by mass incarceration. Simply closing the illegal market for pot could have grim consequences; dealers could replace what is on their shelves with opioids.

“If you don’t recycle the money, you’re buying yourself a bigger problem,” Soares warned.

Proposed legislation creating a tax and regulate system provides for community reinvestment. Sponsored by Manhattan Democratic Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Crystal Peoples-Stokes, a Buffalo Democrat, the measure creates a marijuana revenue fund from tax receipts — net of administrative and oversight costs — that would funnel 25 percent to the State Education Department, 25 percent for drug treatment and public education, and 50 percent for community reinvestment.

Specific regulations implementing the legislation would be drafted by a new bureau in the State Liquor Authority, which was established in 1933 to create from scratch a system of legal liquor sales following the repeal of Prohibition. The SLA would repeat this mission by licensing and managing the production and sale of legal marijuana.

A cornerstone of the SLA is a system favoring small business ownership of retail outlets, Krueger told a conference, also held October 16, organized by Capalino+Company, which is recruiting clients that would benefit from a regulated market. Under this approach — which represented a persistent theme touched on at the event that drew roughly 200 people — residents of low-income neighborhoods would be given an opportunity to go into business as retail sellers of legal marijuana.

Billed as the “Cannabis Summit: Developing a Sustainable Cannabis Economy in New York,” the Capalino event featured a keynote addresses by Melissa Mark-Viverito, the former City Council speaker who is now a senior official at the Latino Victory Fund, and Melissa Moore, the deputy state director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a leader in the movement to end drug prohibition.

Krueger’s bill would permit people with marijuana convictions to petition for a review of their criminal justice records. Marijuana convictions complicate the abiity of some to access jobs and scholarships for which they are otherwise qualified.

In his hearing testimony, Soares strongly supported this objective, saying, “We must work to seal and reclassify” previous convictions and “move from stigma to opportunity.”

Krueger voiced particular pride that her bill would respect New Yorkers who object to second-hand smoke. Tenants in smoke-free buildings would be prohibited from smoking pot at home. Doctors, she said with a sly grin, believe that inhaling a burning leaf of any kind is dangerous.

Soares — responding to questions from the Assembly panel chaired by Dick Gottfried from Manhattan, the Health Committee chair, Joe Lentol from Brooklyn who heads the Codes Committee, and Manhattan’s Linda Rosenthal, chair of the Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse — devoted a lot of time to addressing the risks of drivers being stoned. Currently, the police bring charges as soon as they smell pot, but with legalization that trigger would disappear. The Albany prosecutor said police would have to be trained in drug detection, and if a reliable blood test were developed police labs would need additional funding. He recommended that anyone refusing a blood test have their license suspended.

In any discussion of plans for legalizing pot, Krueger acknowledged, the elephant in the room is a proposal from Governor Andrew Cuomo that is likely to be part of the budget he unveils next year. The governor’s wishes would hold center stage in Albany.