Four years ago, the greatest health crisis in a century came to New York. More than 83,000 New Yorkers have died of COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). During that initial surge, Black and Latino New Yorkers were dying at twice the rate of the white population. Why? Many factors of systemic and institutionalized racism. People of color are, for example, employed disproportionally in essential industries where work cannot be done remotely. We live in more crowded spaces. Many of us lack access to preventative healthcare and have untreated chronic health conditions which exacerbate the virus’ severity.
Unlike anything we had experienced in recent memory, the pandemic laid bare the egregious inequities that negatively affect health outcomes in many ways.
This is why over the past months, a coalition of healthcare workers and providers, community organizations, patients and patient advocates, and hundreds of faith leaders representing New York’s diverse communities came together to call on New York’s leaders to take action on healthcare.
In particular, we demanded that New York pass a budget that puts us on a path to fully funding Medicaid, the public health insurance program that provides comprehensive health insurance to more than 7 million New Yorkers, including more than half of all New York City residents.
Indeed, Medicaid is one of the most important and effective safety net programs in our nation’s history, borne out of the Civil Rights Movement and passed into law by the Social Security Amendments of 1965. Through the program, the federal government gives matching funds to states to provide health coverage to residents who earn below a certain income.
Yet for many years, New York State has underfunded Medicaid, causing serious financial hardship for healthcare providers that serve communities with high Medicaid enrollment. On average, hospitals are only reimbursed 70 cents per dollar for the costs they incur caring for Medicaid patients. This has been a major contributing factor to hospital closures and service cutbacks facing our communities.
The governor’s initial budget proposal, announced earlier this year, would have made the aforementioned situation even worse. It included a proposed $1 billion in Medicaid cuts, rather than the additional funding that is so sorely needed. Also on the chopping block were wage cuts to thousands of low-paid homecare workers, as well as paid sick leave protections for our healthcare heroes who continue to be exposed to COVID-19 and other infectious illnesses on the job.
I am deeply proud to share that thanks to the efforts of our Healthcare Justice coalition, not only did we defeat these cuts, but we took important first steps to closing the Medicaid funding gap. Thanks to the advocacy of Speaker Carl Heastie and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the budget includes notable Medicaid rate increases and a vitally-needed $800 million in support for struggling safety net institutions.
No budget is perfect, and this is no exception. There is still a long road to travel to eliminate healthcare funding disparities in New York, which will take many more budget cycles to get right. This year’s downpayment on a Medicaid rate increase is less than what is truly needed to ensure full access for Medicaid consumers and safeguard standards for quality care.
Nonetheless, the New York State legislature clearly heard the voices of its constituents, tens of thousands of whom made calls, wrote letters, and told their healthcare stories in the halls of our state capitol and on the airwaves. Healthcare equity is a moral and racial justice issue—and it is something we must continue to champion until every person, regardless of income or zip code, has access to the very best care that New York has to offer.
George Gresham is President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the largest union of healthcare workers in the nation.
