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The NY Healthcare Act

Universal, single-payer health care can be a reality in New York.

The top health ailments in the 39th district continue to be heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and respiratory diseases, including flu and pneumonia. While mental health issues are not prioritized and often go untreated. During the pandemic we saw how poor physical health led to an increased number of positive cases, as well as deaths, while the isolation that many people endured, increased their struggles with mental health issues. 

Under our state’s existing health care system there are thousands of healthcare organizations involved in the provision and payment of services- creating a confusing and expensive system, where the costs are passed down to the patient/consumer. This pandemic has highlighted the clear inequities in our community’s ability to access healthcare. We are the “Epicenter of the epicenter” because our mixed status and mixed income neighbors cannot afford healthcare. In order to create a healthier district, we must:

• Expand existing health programs to provide holistic community based services that truly address the underlying causes of physical and mental health afflictions of our community.

• Establish a true Single Payer healthcare in New York state (NY Health Care Act), where costs can be cut down significantly. Under this system a single government entity, and not private insurance companies, would pay medical bills. This system would be funded by taxes and not payroll deductions or disposable income.

• Pass the Hospital Equity and Affordability Law (HEAL) is aimed at preventing anti-competitive hospital contracting practices and “out-of-control” pricing structures that hurt patients and act as a barrier to affordable care.