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HEALTH CARE FOR AMERICA NOW HEALTH CARE FOR ALL NEW YORK FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEW YORKERS RALLY AT CITY HALL Both Senators and Every New York City Representative But One Voted for Relief NEW YORK, NY – Scores of enthusiastic New Yorkers joined members of New York ity’s Congressional delegation on the steps of City Hall to celebrate passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 350) and the Budget Reconciliation Act of 2010 (H.R. 4870.) Together, both bills comprise the major health care reform legislation promoted by President Obama and Democratic Congressional leaders over the past year. Those gathered were joined by Rep. Charles Rangel, Dean of the New York Congressional Delegation, who represents New York’s 15th Congressional District (comprised of parts of upper Manhattan and the Bronx), and Rep. Nydia Velazquez, who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and represents New York’s 12th Congressional district (comprised of parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan). The crowd saluted 12 of New York City’s 13-member Congressional delegation for their votes and leadership on the new law. The one exception was Rep. Michael McMahon, who represents New York’s 13th Congressional District (comprised of Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn) and who did not vote for the bill. “Members of New York’s congressional delegation played a key role in crafting and passing this historic national health care reform legislation,” said Mark Hannay, Director of the Metro New York Health Care for All Campaign and coordinator of the New York City Organizing Committee for Health Care for America Now. “Because of their vision, commitment, and legislative savvy, a good health care reform bill has been signed by President Obama, and millions of New Yorkers and Americans will now benefit.” “CWA and our city’s trade unions thank both our Senators and twelve of thirteen Representatives of New York City's congressional delegation who stood up for working people and against the corporate special interests," said Chris Shelton, Vice President for CWA District One, which includes 180,000 union members in New York, New Jersey, and New England. “The Patient Protection and Affordability Care Act will lower costs and raise quality. It is the most important social reform since Medicare and Medicaid, and a significant improvement over the status quo. We will not forget that, when it really mattered, both our Senators and all but one of our City's Representatives stood with working people.” “For far too long, health care has been absent from the lives of many low-income and working poor New Yorkers,” said David R. Jones, president and CEO of the Community Service Society of New York, which also manages MCCAP, one of the largest consumer assistance programs in the nation. “Many New Yorkers lost their jobs in the recession, particularly Black and Latino workers, and cannot afford premiums for employer sponsored benefits, forcing them to live without health insurance, which can impact their ability to get and keep a job. Joblessness is a direct route to poverty. Thank you to both our Senators and all members of Congress for their leadership and commitment to the people of New York and the nation, and for making health care a reality. “ “Over the past year, I have advocated for health care reform because I have personally suffered at the hands of the health care system. I am glad that we have a new law that will benefit me and our nation,” said Kathy Kelly, a Staten Island resident and activist with MoveOn. “This new law will help me by eliminating the co-payments for preventive screening tests under Medicare. For the past two years, I have not gotten screening tests done to monitor medical conditions that I have been diagnosed with because I could not afford the co-payments. I will now be able to get these tests done and not worry that they will further devastate me financially.” “New York’s Congressional delegation strengthened our state’s small businesses when they voted for health care reform legislation,” said Benjamin Geyerhahn, New York Director for Small Business Majority, and co-author of a study on the economic impact of health care reform on New York small businesses. “The tax credits alone will benefit approximately 249,000 small businesses in New York – that's almost a quarter of a million small business owners who can expand their businesses and create jobs, as well as provide health coverage for their employees.” “Doctors and nurses are used to making dozens of tough decisions each and every day," said Dr. L. Toni Lewis, president of the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare. "The choices we make in our hospitals, in our clinics, and in our emergency rooms may be a matter of life and death for our patients. Despite the protestations of pundits, the vote on whether to give access to quality health care to an additional 32 million Americans, rein in the abuses of the insurance industry, invest in primary care, prevention and wellness, and do all this while reducing the federal budget deficit $138 billion wasn't a tough call at all. We're so proud of the New York representatives and Senators who stood up for us and got historic health care reform done." “This new health care law is a turning point for New York and America, and marks the beginning of a healthier and stronger society, and a government that works for its people instead of the interests of big insurance companies,” said Té Revesz, a board member of Citizen Action of New York and vice-chair of the group’s New York City chapter. “Over the last two weeks, the House of Representatives, Senate, and President took their final actions that will end decades of insurance company abuses. No longer will ‘big insurance’ be able to deny care, charge unaffordable rates, and prevent coverage to thousands of people every year. Further, 32 million uninsured Americans will now gain coverage, including nearly 2 million New Yorkers.” "The New York City Congressional delegation and all the elected officials have the sincerest thanks of the New York State Young Democrats," said Matt Bishop, Chair of the Health Care Committee for the New York State Young Democrats. "As the largest age group of uninsured Americans, millions of young adults are an accident away from financial ruin. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will benefit 13.7 million young people and lead to the largest reduction in the federal debt. It is quite appropriate that over the past year young adults across New York State have been calling their representatives, writing letters, and attending rallies to urge Congress to pass reform. Congress has listened and made comprehensive health care reform a reality. Their vote gives us hope in the responsiveness of our democracy." Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is the nation’s largest national campaign in support of national health care reform, comprised of over 1,000 national, state, and local groups and unions. Health Care for All New York (HCFANY) is a statewide consumer health advocacy coalition with approximately 100 member groups statewide. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Thank You” Press Conference for New York Congressional Delegation Thursday, April 1, 2010 Opening Statement by Mark Hannay We are gathered here today, New Yorkers from all walks of life and from all kinds of organizations and trade unions, to celebrate the historic step our nation has taken on the path toward health care justice. Finally, after 98 years since it was first proposed by a presidential candidate, comprehensive health care reform has become the law of the land. America has joined the community of all other civilized nations to affirm health care as a human right, and we have taken major steps toward guaranteeing that right. No one person or group or trade union or public official made this new law possible. Rather, it was each of us, each in our own way, working together, that made health care reform finally happen after a century of struggle. And over the last year when the difficult times came, and the hard challenges arose, and the promise of change seemed to fade, none of us ever gave up hope, we put our shoulders to the grindstone, we redoubled our efforts, and we kept on fighting until we won. Congratulations to all of us! So let’s all give ourselves a hearty round of applause, because working together, yes, we can, and yes, we did! Together, we beat back the forces of the status quo. Together, we prevailed over negativity and cynicism. Together, we withstood the lies and the grandstanding and the political opportunism. Working together,… we did it! In the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” And working together, those of us here in New York along with our allies in Congress and in communities all across our nation, America has bent that curve in a very real way for millions of Americans who suffer with treatable illness, injury, and unnecessary death. We should all feel very humble, and very proud. As any good community organizer knows, the way you win real change is by those of us on the outside of the power structure working together with our allies inside the power structure, and vice versa. We New Yorkers are so very, very lucky, and very, very proud to be represented “on the inside” by our city’s congressional delegation. They were true champions for all Americans and all New Yorkers in this fight, and it is no understatement to say that comprehensive health care reform would absolutely not have happened without their leadership and tenacity. Thank you! Let me tell you just a few things about some of them: Rep. Charlie Rangel, Dean of the New York delegation, and chair of the Ways and Means Committee as crucial legislation was crafted and moved to the floor – he made sure that the best possible bill was developed, that progressive taxation was restored after decades of moving in the wrong direction since the so-called Reagan Revolution, that a strong public health insurance option linked to Medicare was put on the table, and that New York’s hospitals and public insurance programs like Medicaid and Child Health Plus were protected and strengthened. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, fought hard to make sure that the needs of our city and state and nation’s immigrant communities were addressed in health care reform. A lot of work still lies ahead in that regard, but some major steps were taken for legal immigrants. Also, as chair of the Small Business Committee, she made sure that small businesses got the support they need to be able to provide good health care for their workers. Finally, as chair of the Hispanic Caucus, she worked closely with the leaders of the Congressional Asian-American Caucus, the Black Caucus, and the Progressive Caucus to stand strong against many efforts to water down or abandon key aspects of health care reform. Rep. Gregory Meeks as a leader within the Congressional Black Caucus worked hard to assure that true equity and racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care access are now going to be addressed as part of health care reform. He was joined in that effort by Rep. Jose Serrano working within the Hispanic Caucus, led by Rep. Velazquez. Senator Charles Schumer, our senior senator and number 3 in the Senate leadership, fought hard at every step of the way for the inclusion of a public health insurance option, a battle that unfortunately still remains before us and that we are all determined to see through to success. Sen. Schumer also played a pivotal role in preserving charity care funding for our state and city’s hospitals and community health centers, and in helping our state and city get our fair share of federal support for Medicaid. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Carolyn Maloney sprang into action when comprehensive reproductive health care for women was under attack from anti-choice forces. While there still remains unfinished work to be done in that regard and some women’s rights were unfortunately compromised in the final legislation, it would have been a far worse situation without their leadership. Rep. Joe Crowley, chair of the New Democrats Caucus, made sure that centrist Democrats stayed on board the health care reform bandwagaon, even to the point of supporting a public option in the final House bill, and consequently they did not undermine the effort at health care reform when the Republican minority remained obstinate and just said “no”. Reps. Anthony Weiner, Jerry Nadler, Eliot Engel, and Yvette Clarke all spoke out vigorously time and time again in support of a public option, and in support of expanding Medicare to cover all Americans, a goal that many of us here will continue working toward and believe to be the real form of health care reform our nation ultimately needs to achieve. I could go on and on about these people, but in the interest of time, let me end my remarks and allow our other speakers to offer their thanks. As I close, I want to thank New York City’s Congressional delegation on behalf of all of us here today for your partnership with us, and for your leadership for health care justice. Let’s hear it – three cheers for the home team! |
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