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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
May 26, 2009 Mark Hannay 212-925-1829
MEDIA STATEMENT CONCERNING
“NEW YORKERS PAY WHEN BIG MONEY PLAYS”
REPORT FROM CITIZEN ACTION OF NEW YORK
from Mark Hannay, Director
(New York) – The “New Yorkers Pay When Big Money Plays” report released today by Citizen Action of New York documents, among other findings, how New Yorkers are unnecessarily paying more for health insurance and for prescription drugs than we have to. We New Yorkers find ourselves in this predicament because of the inordinate influence of the insurance and drug industries on the New York State Legislature. As this report shows, for several years running now, these businesses have stopped two important bills that would lower prices for health insurance policies and prescription drugs for New Yorkers. We are being price-gouged in order to protect these industries’ profiteering, and our health is being held in jeopardy.
Lower prices for health coverage and prescription drugs will help the bottom line for millions of New Yorkers at a time of economic crisis for many. Lower prices will also increase access to good health insurance at a time that many are losing their jobs and thereby losing their employer-provided coverage, unless they can afford to elect for very expensive COBRA continuation. Finally, by lowering prices and thereby increasing access to affordable insurance and prescription drugs, these two bills will improve the health and well-being of tens of thousands of individual New Yorkers. They will also enhance the public health of all New Yorkers at the very time when we face threats of new epidemics such at the H1N1 “swine” flu.
We everyday New Yorkers are fortunate to have legislative leaders such as Assembly Health Committee chair Richard Gottfried of Manhattan, Senator John Sampson of Brooklyn,
and Assemblymember Adam Bradley of White Plains who
have continually stepped forward on our behalf to sponsor
these bills to protect our health and well-being. Unfortunately,
the insurance and drug industries have blunted these
legislators’ leadership by aggressive lobbying that distorts characterizations of these bills. They have also protected their profits by sprinkling campaign contributions across the members of our State Legislature and making donations to the campaign committees of the majorities and minorities in each chamber.
This corruption of our state government would end with adoption of public financing of election campaigns here in New York. As we say in the health care movement, campaign finance reform IS health care reform. Many of us advocates believe that comprehensive health care reform may only be achievable once big special interest money is removed from our political system. We therefore call on our Legislature to support renewed efforts by Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith and Speaker Sheldon Silver to reform our state’s system of election campaign funding this year. We whole-heartedly support their efforts to replace private interest with public interest by enacting comprehensive campaign finance reform to set up a system of public financing.
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