To Save Lives and Billions of Dollars, New York State Must Pass Universal Health Care
As President Trump and the Republican Congress threaten the health care coverage of millions of Americans, New York State could create a universal health care system that would save residents tens of billions of dollars — if the Legislature passes it.
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office estimated earlier this month that if the Affordable Care Act were repealed, 2.7 million people in New York State would lose their health insurance coverage, most in New York City. That figure, the state Health Department says, includes 1.9 million people who would lose the Medicaid coverage extended above the poverty level by Obamacare; 586,000 enrolled in the state Essential Plan, which covers people making somewhat more than the maximum for Medicaid; and 220,000 who bought private insurance through the state’s Obamacare exchange.
Congressional Republicans’ proposals to privatize Medicare and convert Medicaid to finite block grants to states could cut off even more people. More than 3.4 million New Yorkers were on Medicare as of October 2016, according to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, while more than 6.4 million were receiving Medicaid or federally funded Children’s Health Insurance Program benefits.
“As bad as so many things were in our health care system, it is all about to get a lot worse,” Assembly Health Committee chair Richard Gottfried says. As bad as the repeal of Obamacare would be, he adds, “I think what they’re going to do to Medicaid and Medicare is probably going to do more damage.”
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