Geyerhah and Delimpaltadaki Speak on “Health Action” (WBAI FM)

Ben Geyerhah of the Small Business Majority and Eleni Delimpaltadaki of BALCONY spoke on Monday, June 30, at the “Health Action” WBAI FM radio show about the new survey “Health Care Pulse of New York Small Businesses”. To listen to the show, click the link below and scroll down to 32nd minute of the recording: Listen

REPORT ON JUNE 12TH FORUM: HEALTH CARE PULSE OF NEW YORK FORUM

On June 12, 2008, BALCONY, the Business and Labor Coalition of New York hosted a Health Care Public Opinion Research forum that focused on the health care concerns and preferences for health care reform of New Yorkers and New York’s small businesses. The forum was co-sponsored by the New York Chapter of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (www.nyaapor.org), the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org), and the Baruch College School of Public Affairs (www.baruch.cuny.edu/spa), and took place at Baruch College.

(at the panel table, from left to right: Bruce Ventimiglia, Alan Lubin, Cathrine Abate, Robert Shapiro, James Parrott, JoAnn Lamphere, Elisabeth Benjamin, Eleni Delimpaltadaki and Benjamin Geyerhahn)

THE HEALTH CARE PULSE OF NEW YORK FORUM PANELISTS:

James Parrott, Chief Economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute, who presented his study “The Health Care and Social Costs of the Uninsured in New York State” (www.fiscalpolicy.org).
View James Parrott’s PowerPoint Presentation here: James Parrott

Elisabeth Ryden Benjamin, Director of New York Healthcare Restructuring Initiatives at the Community Service Society, who presented two survey studies on “The consumer’s worries about health care and preferences for reform” conducted by Lake Research Associates (www.hcfany.org).
View Elisabeth Ryden Benjamin’s presentation here: Elisabeth Ryden Benjamin

Eleni Delimpaltadaki, Director of Research for BALCONY, and Benjamin Geyerhahn, of the Small Business Majority, who presented the “Health Care Pulse of New York Small Businesses Survey” (www.balconynewyork.com, www.smallbusinessmajority.com).

JoAnn Lamphere, Director, State Government Relations HLTC at AARP, who presented findings of different surveys regarding “50+ adults’ attitudes in New York State” and provided “a comparison of New Yorkers’ opinions to those of residents from other states.” (www.aarp.org/research/knowledge).

Read the Report: Forum Report

Survey: Small businesses favor partnership for health insurance

By Eric Reinhardt, Journal Staff

Eight of 10 New York small businesses that were surveyed believe a public-private partnership is the best way to provide health insurance for their employees.

That’s according to a report from the Business and Labor Coalition of New York (BALCONY), the American Cancer Society, AARP, and Sausalito, Calif.–based Small Business Majority.

The survey report, called “The Health Care Pulse of New York Small Business,” indicates about 80 percent of respondents favor a system jointly financed by business, employees, and government.

State Bill Expands Pool of Possible 9/11 Benefit Recipients

by Anthony DePalma

Even as New York City battles thousands of ground zero workers over their health claims in federal court, New York State is making more workers eligible for health care benefits.

The State Legislature has passed a bill that will make hundreds of public service workers who labored at the World Trade Center site during the nine-month cleanup after the attacks of Sept. 11 eligible for state disability payments.

Aides to Gov. David A. Paterson said on Wednesday that as many as 1,800 such workers who had already been denied disability benefits could now be eligible to receive them.

High Medicare Costs, Courtesy of Congress

by David Leonhardt

On Wal-Mart’s Web site, you can buy a walker for $59.92. It is called the Carex Explorer, and it’s a typical walker: a few feet high, with four metal poles extending to the ground. The Explorer is one of the walkers covered by Medicare.

But Medicare and its beneficiaries aren’t paying $59.92 for the Explorer or any similar walker. In fact, they’re not paying anything close to it. They are paying about $110.

For years, Congress has set the price for walkers and various medical equipment, and it has consistently set them well above the market rate, effectively handing out a few hundred million dollars of corporate welfare every year to the equipment makers.

But as of July 1, this system is set to change. Companies will instead have to submit bids — to compete with one another, just as Wal-Mart competes with Target — if they want to continue selling products to Medicare. Based on a pilot program, the price of walkers, delivery and setup included, will fall to about $80.

New Yorkers prefer circuit breaker over tax cap

New Yorkers want relief from how much they pay in taxes, as opposed to simply limiting school spending, a new survey shows.

A recent poll conducted by tax policy group TREND NY found New Yorkers overwhelmingly support legislation that would limit a taxpayer’s total property taxes to a percentage of their income, also known as a circuit breaker. NYSUT supports such legislation as one way of providing taxpayer relief.

U.S. Conference of Mayors backs single-payer national health insurance

The U.S. Conference of Mayors, meeting in Miami, adopted a resolution this morning in support of single-payer national health insurance.

The assembly, in unanimous vote, backed a resolution calling for the enactment of the “United States National Health Insurance Act,” H.R. 676. The bill, which is also known as the “Improved and Expanded Medicare for All Act,” is sponsored by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan and 90 other members of Congress.

Labor Needs to Improve Conditions for Nonunion Workers, Official Warns

By Steven Greenhouse

Ed Ott, the executive director of the New York City Central Labor Council, an umbrella group for the city’s labor unions, has an unexpected and unnerving warning for New York’s more than one million union members.

He warns that their wages and living standards will be threatened unless the city’s unions do far more to lift the incomes and living standards of the city’s nonunion working poor, including restaurant workers, supermarket cashiers and taxi drivers.

New York City – Bloomberg: I Am No Fan Of Private School Vouchers

New York City – Mayor Michael Bloomberg hit a sour note by saying he’s not big on the idea of private school vouchers, at an education conference hosted by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.


New York parents have been given more choice among public and charter schools, Bloomberg said, but he said nothing about vouchers until asked during the question-and-answer period following his comments.

Bloomberg replied that he didn’t seek vouchers because it would be politically impossible to get approval from his state’s legislature and such a fight would distract from other efforts to improve the city’s schools.

“I’ve never been a big believer in vouchers,” Bloomberg added. He said that’s because “what invariably will happen with vouchers is those who are sending their kids to private schools already will take up most of the vouchers.”

He said government’s major job is to provide quality public schools because that’s where most children will go with or without vouchers.

This article was taken from Vos Iz Neias – (Yiddish:What’s News?)

Eleni Delimpaltadaki, BALCONY Director of Research, on “Health Care on the Air” TV show

Mark Hannay, host of “Health Care on the Air” and Director of Metro New York Health Care for All Campaign, interviewed Eleni Delimpaltadaki on the new survey: “The Health Care Pulse of New York Small Businesses”. The study was a partnership of BALCONY, Small Business Majority, AARP and American Cancer Society.

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