![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Front-Page-Possibility-3.jpg\")
<\/a>STATE SEN. GUSTAVO Rivera (S.D. 33) calls for the passage of the NY Health Act during the 52nd anniversary celebration of the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition, now called Our Bronx, at Lehman College, Bedford Park, The Bronx on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. He\u2019s joined by Bronx-based, primary care doctors, Dr. Imam Hassan and Dr. Betty Kolod.\u00a0Screenshot by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s Note: The following is an updated version of the story that appears in our latest print edition.<\/p>\n
State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33) joined two Bronx-based doctors at an event at Lehman College on Saturday, Feb. 28, as he continued a years-long<\/a> campaign<\/a> to urge Bronxites to call on his colleagues in State government to become champions of The NY Health Act<\/a> and ensure its passage during the current State legislative session in Albany. Legislators are currently preparing to finalize the next State budget.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Rivera, chair of the State health committee<\/a>, was speaking at the 52nd anniversary of the founding of the nonprofit, Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition<\/a> (NWBCCC), which announced its new name, \u201cOur Bronx,\u201d at the event. \u201cThroughout my 15 years in office, my team and the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition have worked in lock step to invest in our people and address our borough\u2019s most pressing concerns,\u201d Rivera said, adding that he remained proud to partner with the organization as it grows into a borough-wide force in the form of \u2018Our Bronx.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis moment demands urgent state action around healthcare, an issue that Bronxites feel more than other New Yorkers, as they have struggled with barriers to care and high, out-of-pocket costs for too long,\u201d Rivera said. \u201cThe New York Health Act is a common-sense solution that would guarantee quality healthcare for all New Yorkers, regardless of age, wealth, or immigration status.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n With nearly two thirds of Bronx residents relying on Medicaid, NWBCCC \/ Our Bronx members said local impacts of federal policy<\/a> and funding decisions could hit the borough especially hard. In preparation, over the last year, the organization has been partnering with healthcare worker organizations, including SEIU1199, the New York State Nurses Association, and Physicians for a National Health Program, alongside Rivera, in reaching hundreds of Bronx residents through various town halls, calling for state action on healthcare.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Rivera said the New York Health Act would also protect the State from the federal administration\u2019s Medicaid cuts<\/a>\u00a0and what he described as \u201cdraconian\u201d coverage eligibility changes which he said would go into effect<\/a>\u00a0over the next few years. \u201cAs lead sponsor of the NY Health Act, I am committed to working with \u2018Our Bronx\u2019 to make universal health coverage a reality that will transform the lives of so many in our borough and across New York State,\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Dr. Imam Hassan and Dr. Betty Kolod, both primary care doctors in The Bronx, are also members of the health justice steering committee of Our Bronx. Hassan said they were there to explain that the healthcare system is broken. \u201cFar too many of us can\u2019t get access to high-quality, affordable healthcare,\u201d she said adding that healthcare should be a human right but instead people face insurance denials, delays in care, and their access to essential health services is blocked. \u201cEven our NYSNA nurses<\/a> have had fight to protect their healthcare, requiring a historic strike<\/a> that went on for 28 days<\/a>\u00a0just to keep their high-quality healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n For her part, Kolod talked about one of her patients, Carmen, who she described as a feisty and no-nonsense lady. \u201cShe went to the pharmacy recently and was told that her medication would be $600,\u201d she said. \u201cShe was completely shocked, and it took me, two nurses, a social worker and a pharmacist to put it together.\u201d This was met with shouts of \u201cThat ain\u2019t right!\u201d Kolod said she had just celebrated her 65th birthday and was on the Medicare Advantage plan that had a very high deductible. \u201cThis is all before the Big Ugly Bill healthcare cuts take effect,\u201d Kolod said. \u201cSo we all know that when these healthcare cuts take effect, The Bronx will be hit the hardest if we don\u2019t stand together and fight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Kolod explained that about half of Bronx residents are on Medicaid and that doctors were already seeing the effects of the cuts. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing things like cuts to transportation for people with disabilities,\u201d she said. \u201cAlso, healthcare is the biggest employer in The Bronx, and one out of every person in The Bronx is on the Essential Plan so when that\u2019s cut, if we don\u2019t fight to protect it, we\u2019re going to see massive numbers of people who will be uninsured.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Essential Plan is a low-cost, comprehensive health insurance program for low-to-moderate-income New Yorkers, often called a \u201cBasic Health Program<\/a>.\u201d It offers $0 monthly premiums and $0 deductibles for individuals (19-64) who do not qualify for Medicaid or employer-sponsored insurance, often called low-cost health coverage<\/a>\u00a0or a\u00a0state-sponsored health plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dr. Betty Kolod speaks on the NY Health Act during the 52nd anniversary celebration of Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition \/ Our Bronx at Lehman College, Bedford Park, The Bronx 2\/28\/26, alongside Dr. Imam Hassan and State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33) V9 Video by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n Hassan said it was known that not having health insurance causes sickness and death and went on to talk about how one of her Bronx patients, who has diabetes but doesn\u2019t have health insurance, hasn\u2019t been able to consistently access insulin. \u201cJust a few months ago, he was hospitalized with a foot infection,\u201d she said. \u201cDoctors had to amputate his entire foot and his leg below the knee. This would have been completely preventable if he had health insurance. In the richest city, in the richest country in the world, our patients suffer because they can\u2019t afford healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Kolod said the real solution was the NY Health Act, and said if passed, New York would be the first state in the country to have truly guaranteed, universal, single payer healthcare, regardless of immigration status, employment status or marital status. \u201cWe would have no premiums, no copays, no deductibles,\u201d she said. \u201cWe could stay with our doctor, not have to worry if they\u2019re still in network, and we would be guaranteed the healthcare that we need. So, that\u2019s primary care, addiction services, going into the hospital, our medications, devices like wheelchairs, hospital beds, gender-affirming care, abortion, psychiatric care, mental health services, and vision, dental, hearing and long-term care.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Rivera thanked Kolod and Hassan for their advocacy, saying, \u201cEvery single day, you treat patients. You do it because you care deeply about their well-being. You fight for this even though you have a full-ass job actually taking care of people. You fight to make sure that stuff like this becomes a reality by joining an organization like this, by pushing folks, by organizing, so thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n STATE SEN. GUSTAVO Rivera (S.D. 33) calls for the passage of the NY Health Act during the 52nd anniversary celebration of the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition, now called Our Bronx, at Lehman College, Bedford Park, The Bronx on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. He\u2019s joined by Bronx-based, primary care doctors, Dr. Imam Hassan and Dr. Betty Kolod. V10 Video by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n The senator went on to say that in his 15 years in office, despite some early hurdles, the core of the NWBCCC\/ Our Bronx had always remained the same. \u201cIt has always been, \u2018How do you take neighbors in the Northwest Bronx and focus them on fundamental issues, changing their own conditions, and then working to ensure that we change them for The Bronx as a whole,\u2019 and now, you\u2019re going to do it for the entire Bronx and hopefully [..] you can help me change how we do it for the entire state, and our country!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Of the NY Health Act, he said, \u201cWe\u2019re not talking about some fantastical, you know, kind of like, \u2018We\u2019re living on Mars\u2019 type of situation. No! The fact is that this, our beloved country, is the only place with the obscenity of somebody going broke because they get sick is a reality that we all have to live with.\u201d Rivera said passing the law was about political will, and called on Bronxites to appeal to those elected officials who say, \u201cWell, it\u2019s the system that we kind of got to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the only place where you can go broke because you get sick,\u201d the senator said. \u2018It literally can\u2019t happen anywhere else! That is an obscenity! So we can solve it, but to solve it, we just have to pass this bill but to pass this bill, we need political will. It is not about something that kind of maybe can get done. It is something that must be done, and I would argue that this moment, right now, more than at any other time, is precisely the time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He went on to say that the worst of the federal cuts have not yet been felt and people should be braced for more hardship. \u201cThe machete from the top is coming, and that is going to impact not just the people who work or who are part of the public systems, because we all live in the same place, and we\u2019re all going to get sick, and there\u2019s going to be a bunch of us that don\u2019t have any type of insurance, and that means that the whole system is going to be impacted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n STATE SEN. GUSTAVO Rivera (S.D. 33) calls for the passage of the NY Health Act during the 52nd anniversary celebration of the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition, now called Our Bronx, at Lehman College, Bedford Park, The Bronx on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. He\u2019s joined by Bronx-based, primary care doctors, Dr. Imam Hassan and Dr. Betty Kolod. V11 Video by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n Of his Bronx colleagues in State government, Rivera said, \u201cI think all of them are sponsors of the bill, both in the senate and in the assembly, so God Bless them for that!\u201d This was met with broad applause.\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s a good thing but here\u2019s the thing, folks. That ain\u2019t enough!\u201d he said. \u201cIt is just not enough to be a sponsor of the bill. You have to be a champion of the bill.\u00a0We need to convince my colleagues that this is a political necessity!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He said everyone in the room had their own healthcare story about their own health, or that of their family or neighbors and how insurance companies have made decisions on their behalf while they try to figure out whether to go to the doctor or not because of the cost. \u201cFolks who break their arm when they\u2019re playing basketball and would rather get an Uber than call an ambulance because it\u2019s going to cost them too much,\u201d he said. \u2018Those are the types of things that happen every single day in our neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Dilleta Pina, board member of NWBCCC \/ Our Bronx, and a retired City worker, had talked at a 2025 event of her experience of worrying about her 57-year-old son, Robert, who, in 2024, underwent a kidney transplant. \u201cThis is not pleasant for me,\u201d she said in part at that event. \u201cFirst and foremost, I\u2019m a mom. These Medicaid cuts have made me scared and angry and feeling all kinds of emotions. My firstborn was born 57 years ago. You will see him and you will see a grown man, but when I look at him, I see my baby that I held in my arms 57 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n STATE SEN. GUSTAVO Rivera (S.D. 33) calls for the passage of the NY Health Act during the 52nd anniversary celebration of the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition, now called Our Bronx, at Lehman College, Bedford Park, The Bronx on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. He\u2019s joined by Bronx-based, primary care doctors, Dr. Imam Hassan and Dr. Betty Kolod. V12 Video by S\u00edle Moloney<\/p>\n Pina said Robert was going to need anti-rejection medication for the rest of his life in order for his organ not to fail. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d she said referring to the Medicaid cuts taking effect. \u201cHe may not be able to afford the anti-rejection medication and even if I were to give him all of the money that I have from my pension [..], every penny may not cover the anti-rejection medication that he needs to stay alive. So, this big, murder bill that they passed in Washington is really going to affect a lot of us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n She said many others were in similar situations to her and Robert, but added that the cuts would also affect people like the 1199 members who work in healthcare who she said may lose their jobs, along with home help aides who take care of seniors and people with disabilities. \u201cHospitals are going to close, health centers are going to close,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be disastrous and this is why I\u2019m here passionately advocating for the New York Health Act to pass because that will cover everybody in the State, no co-payments, no [inaudible] will be included, hearing, vision, dental.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n She added, \u201cOne important thing is when the people lose their job or go to another job, they still have their healthcare, they don\u2019t have to worry about staying with a bad boss and losing their healthcare. Also, people who are undocumented and documented will be covered and that\u2019ll help all of us, because all of us are going to be healthy if we all have universal healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Rivera concluded saying he appreciated Our Bronx being his allies for as long as they have been. He stressed that their collective efforts needed to be ramped up however. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be champions of the bill,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat that means is that every single one, particularly the folks in leadership\u2026.y\u2019all know who I\u2019m talking about? We need to go and pressure by talking about the realities in The Bronx right now that are impacting every single one of us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n