Times Union
If all of the New York State legislators who say they support the New York Health Act in principle were to actually put in the effort to get it passed, it would have been law five years ago. The act proposes to implement universal government-paid health care in New York State, eliminating co-pays, premiums and deductibles and providing dental, vision, hearing and long term care coverage, similar to what is normal in every other industrialized country in the world. Although the bill has passed the assembly several times and has been endorsed in the Senate, it continues to languish in the State Senate Health Committee.
Those who repeatedly avoid taking a public stance on the New York Health Act include State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, who has said time and time again that she supports the underlying principles of the act without naming the act itself; and Gov. Kathy Hochul, who unveiled a package of incremental alternatives to the New York Health Act during her state of the state address last week.
Gov. Hochul’s proposals include legislation to allow nursing assistants and physicians’ assistants to administer medication and vaccinations. She has launched a career pathways training program to train healthcare workers in underserved communities. She proposes to have the state Department of Health find affordable coverage options for the 450,000 New Yorkers who are projected to lose their current coverage as a result of the Trump Administration’s cutbacks to the Affordable Care Act. She is also directing the Department of Health to negotiate deeper discounts with the manufacturers of high cost drugs.
Governor Kathy Hochul: Nibbling around the edges?
But she continues to ignore the 800-pound gorilla in the room as if her nibbling around the edges will be enough to overcome the massive increases in health costs that will result when Trump’s massive health care cuts take effect later this year. Perhaps she’s hoping the issue will blow over by the time she runs for office again in November. Whatever her motivation, she is clearly watering down her pledge to make healthcare in New York State more affordable.
Gov. Hochul’s endeavors to dance around the New York Health Act, however, are being challenged by her own handpicked lieutenant governor Antonio Delgado. Delgado, a former congressman, is counting on his open support for the health act to propel him past Hochul in this year’s Democratic primary for governor, for which he declared last June. This year’s gubernatorial election may in fact turn into a referendum on the New York Health Act.
NY Lt. Gov Antonio Delgado supports the health act
So far, staunch opposition to the health act has come from those who have a big stake in keeping the current system in place: the wealthy; health care insurance companies; and influential public employee unions that don’t come close to equalling the number of New Yorkers who are clamoring for affordable health care. They wield immense power in Albany, however, and have successfully intimidated the legislature into stalling the bill. They are The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, The New York State Construction Trades Council, the New York State Public Employees Conference, The Police Conference of New York, The Sergeants’ Benevolent Association, The Uniformed Firefighters of Greater New York, The Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, and the United Federation of Teachers.
The unions argue that the New York Health Act diminishes their role in securing health benefits for their members. In truth, studies show that public employee unions have consistently shifted more of the cost of health care to their members as a tradeoff for pay increases. To add insult to injury, the salary increases they negotiated are paid for with tax revenue provided by the very citizens of New York State who lack access to affordable health care.
One might think that Gov. Hochul’s reluctance to take sides on the New York Health Act is a sign that the public is perfectly happy with the status quo and that the clamor for universal health care will die down soon enough. The problem with this theory is that it conveniently shuts out the average New Yorker from having any say in the debate over universal health care. If Gov. Hochul and the legislature were to allow for statewide public hearings on the issue, it might sharply change their perspective on universal health care. They may even find that there is a sharp divide on the matter among the rank-and-file union members, who feel they would better benefit from straight salary increases than from healthcare tradeoffs.
Courtesy of David Medina
Croton-on-Hudson resident David Medina, Manhattan-born and a lifelong Mets fan, has been a writer, reporter and editor at several media outlets throughout his career. They include 1010 WINS Radio, Crain’s New York Business, the Record of New Jersey, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the Miami News and The New York Daily News, where, for 14 years, he covered politics and government and contributed to the newspaper’s opinion page. David later joined the editorial board of The Hartford Courant, for which he continued to write opinion pieces. Since 2015, he has dedicated himself to writing fiction.
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