Albany --- At a time of federal attacks on healthcare funding, New York legislators should take action to protect and expand healthcare access by sponsoring and voting on New York Health this session. The Green Party of New York wholeheartedly endorses the New York Health Act (A. 4738/S.4840) which would guarantee healthcare for all New Yorkers and calls on the Legislature and Governor to make the bill into a law immediately. Party officers pointed out the just-introduced Republican AHCA would have significant negative impacts on coverage for New Yorkers and health care cost for state government, and that Gov. Cuomo’s budget proposal has no plan to deal with changes to the ACA. The New York Health Act would solve these problems, cover all New Yorkers and lower costs. 

“Healthcare should be treated as a human right, not a pay-or-die commodity. Both the ACA and proposed AHCA largely benefit the insurance industry. The proposed Republican AHCA would take a broken system and make it worse: increasing costs on the poor and the elderly, subsidizing the wealthy, and attacking freedom of choice for women,” said Gloria Mattera, co-chair of the Green Party of New York and Director of the Child Life Department at Bellevue Hospital. The proposed New York State budget has no plan to deal with these potentially catastrophic changes to health care, especially funding to Medicaid. Passing the NY Health Act would ensure coverage for all New Yorkers and reduce medical costs to state government by $45 billion annually,” concluded Mattera.

“Health insurance is a scam, and the AHCA would make it even worse: the elderly would have to pay up to five times more than the young, and people with chronic illnesses could have a 30% surcharge on their premiums. Millions of Americans are just months away from being destitute. The current system is unsustainable. It would be so much simpler if New York would pass the New York Health Act and commit to providing healthcare for everyone, paid for fairly and available when we need it,” said Matt Funiciello, former Green Party candidate for Congress in the 21st District and owner of Rock Hill Bakehouse.

“The current system of employer-based insurance is unfair for working people because it makes us reliant on our employer for something that should be a public good.” said Mary House, Green Party State Executive Committee member from Syracuse, NY. “I rely on the health insurance I have through my job to manage my Ehler Danlos, a heritable connective tissue disorder. Yet many people end up underinsured or cannot afford the health care through their employer. We need New York State government to be on the side of the people and that means guaranteeing healthcare to all of us by passing New York Health,” said House.