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Action Alert: March 30, 2010:
Thank New York’s Senators and Congressmembers for Voting for Health Justice!
When Congress took it's final vote on health care reform a little over a week ago, it was a tough vote for many. For some, the final bill didn't go far enough and left out a new public health insurance option; for others, it made too many compromises on abortion rights and immigrant inclusion; for still others, it included an onerous new tax on comprehensive, top-of-the line plans, or it didn't provide enough funds for hospitals that serve large numbers of uninsured patients.
No final bill is ever perfect -- compromise is always characteristic of our democracy. We can all find flaws and shortcomings in the new law.
However, one thing was clear: the status quo was not an option. Health care desperately needed to be reformed, and so the only real question before Congress was who was going to prevail in determining what reforms were going to happen: the army of the status quo special interests, or the public interest as put forward by advocates and activists pressuring government? While the status quo was not eliminated or mitigated as much as many of us would have liked to see happen, government was able to step out in very major ways to move our nation toward affirming access to quality, affordable health care to all members of our society.
The new health care reform law is truly historic. Yet we all know that, in the long run, our work for health care justice and health care for all is not finished. In the end, despite the necessary political compromises, Congress was able to do the right thing, and set our nation on a new path with a new foundation. We now have a responsibility to take maximum advantage of all the new opportunities the new law provides, and then push on further, especially at the state level.
New Yorkers owe the members of our New York City Congressional delegation a hearty thanks, both for their votes for health care reform per se, and also for all the leadership they provided behind the scenes. Both New York and America overall made out much better under health care reform because of the efforts of New York lawmakers, especially Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, Rep. Rangel, Rep. Clarke, Rep. Crowley, Rep. Maloney, Rep. Nadler, Rep. Velazquez, and Rep. Weiner. Overall, nearly 2 million of New York's 2.6 million will get health coverage through this new law, many more community health centers will be built, hospitals will be protected against severe funding cuts, and New York will get more funds to support our various public insurance programs. These are just a few of the benefits for New Yorkers.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1. Join us for a "thank you" press conference to recognize the leadership of the NY Congressional delegation:
Thursday, April 1st at 11 a.m.
City Hall steps
Bring signs and banners. Arrive early to clear security.
2. Call Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and YOUR member of Congress and thank them for all they did to get us as good health care reform as possible at this time.
Thanks for all you do in the fight for health care for all in New York and across America. See you on City Hall steps on Thursday morning!
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