Broken health care system needs to be fixed right away

As chair of the Senate Health Committee, I have made it my mission to fight for New Yorkers who are forced to navigate a broken health care system that has shamelessly become a profit making enterprise. As I prepare to return to Albany in a few days, I am focused on practical, ambitious solutions that will transform our system into one where care decisions are between providers and their patients.

Everyone has a health care story. Your longtime health care provider is suddenly out-of-network. You fall into severe medical debt after a desperately needed procedure. Our nation is facing a severe affordability crisis, so even New Yorkers with insurance find it increasingly difficult to take care of their health in a labyrinth of co-pays, deductibles, and limited networks. Too many of our neighbors are choosing between putting food on the table for their families and paying for prescription drugs in the wealthiest country in the world. It is imperative that we right size health care delivery so people don’t go broke paying for necessary care and we save a lot of tax dollars in the process.

Rather than an exception to the rule, medical debt has become an inevitable result of unforeseen hospital visits or chronic diseases. Too many are avoiding preventive care because they fear its cost. Eliminating these absurd barriers is critical for families to invest long term in their kids and to care for aging parents. I am incredibly proud that my Fair Medical Debt Reporting Act was signed into law by Governor Hochul, so we can prevent New Yorkers from getting their credit scores tarnished due to medical debt. Next session, I will fight to pass more #EndMedicalDebt legislation, including my pilot program to cancel hospital medical debt for eligible New Yorkers, as opposed to predatory debt collectors buying it for pennies on the dollar to turn a profit. 

I’ll also work with my allies at The Caring Majority and 1199SEIU to eliminate managed Medicaid plans from our long term care system with my Home Care Savings and Reinvestment Act. We can save hundreds of millions per year if we eliminate the insurance middlemen and put dollars directly towards homecare providers serving New Yorkers in need. 

Undocumented New Yorkers were a lifeline throughout the pandemic, but they’re excluded from our health care system. We need to pass my Coverage For All bill so our neighbors have options besides Emergency Medicaid, which costs us $500 million a year. Our neighbors need access to basic preventive care to save critical dollars by seeking funding from the federal government. We can expand this access at no cost to the State.

My ultimate goal is to achieve a single-payer universal health care system with the New York Health Act, which would guarantee comprehensive, affordable health care for all New York residents and remove profiteering health care plans from the equation. This summer, we reintroduced the bill with amendments to protect existing benefits secured by organized labor, including employer contributions to cover costs, so that public employee or retiree health benefits, including local municipal benefits, are included in the program.

The upcoming legislative session will be a challenging one as we address a potentially dire financial landscape. Fighting for a fairer, more affordable health care system would alleviate the affordability crisis and signify real advancement for working people. 

We need policies that are more than Band-aids. We know that guaranteeing health care will make a difference for working families and our communities at large. I hope you will join me as we demand investments and solutions to the challenges New Yorkers face to stay healthy.

The author is state senator for the 33rd District