800,000 Uninsured Young Adults in New York

October 14th Forum Will Discuss Health Care Crisis and the Solutions

There is a time bomb silently ticking in New York State, a potential crisis that seems to have escaped the notice of many of our political leaders and social planners. In New York State alone, there are approximately 800,000 young adults between the ages of 19 and 29 without health insurance. These individuals hold jobs in environments such as fast-food franchises, small businesses and freelance work.

The Business and Labor Coalition of New York BALCONY, in partnership with the American Cancer Society, Demos, Freelancers Union, and the NYU Wagner Alumni Association, is sponsoring a forum on this pressing issue by providing an in-depth examination of the financial and medical consequences of the majority of our young workers not having health insurance. This forum will be held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at the NYU School of Law in the Greenberg Room, First Floor, 40 Washington Square South, Manhattan. It will run from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM and feature a wide array of health care experts. The public is invited.

To register for the Forum please go to the BALCONY website www.balconynewyork.com

and register via the Demos on line platform www.demos.org,

see: Demos Events October 14, 2008 , Uninsured Young Adults in New York.

Tamara Draut, Vice President of Policy and Programs at Demos, explains that “young people too easily fall through the cracks of both our public and private health insurance system. They often work in jobs that don’t provide health benefits, or they simply can’t afford it.

Whatever the reason, young people are suffering dire economic and health-related effects of our nation’s patchwork approach to health insurance.”

Participants in the forum will include Catherine Abate, the President of the Community Healthcare Network, Henry Amoroso of St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center, New York State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, the chairman of the Assembly Health Committee, Sara Horowitz, the founder of Working Today and the Freelancers Union, Peter Slocum, the Vice-President of Advocacy for the American Cancer Society, and Arthur Cheliotes, the President of Local 1180 of the Communication Workers of America.

The forum will also present human interest stories from a number of selected young adults, and a dramatic excerpt from a play that tackles this subject, Hogan Gorman’s Hot Cripple.

Peter Slocum reminds us: “While cancer is often seen as a disease of the elderly, this is not always the case. Cancer strikes at all ages, and we hear stories of the terrible struggles faced by young uninsured cancer patients all the time.”

Sara Horowitz adds: “Young workers change jobs more frequently than older workers and they need portable benefits to meet their current needs. Freelancers Union offers one solution by providing affordable health insurance that goes with workers when their employment arrangements change.”

Lou Gordon, Director of BALCONY and moderator of the event, points out why this issue is so critical: “A catastrophic or chronic illness can occur at any time, and the economic ripple effect of such an illness often reverberates throughout the victim’s extended family. Poor families are destroyed, and middle class families devastated. Young people are the fastest-growing segment of America’s uninsured population. They are most likely to work in fast food chains or small businesses that offer no health insurance coverage.”

Bob Cafone of the NYU Wagner Alumni Association agrees: “This is precisely the kind of issue that the Wagner School of Public Service was established to explore. Issues like this often fly under the radar until it is too late.”

Among the issues to be discussed are the economics of health care for young adults, why many young people make the choice to take this risk, how the lack of insurance for this group affects other health care demographics, the deleterious effects this has on the health of the small business community in the state, and why New York is especially vulnerable to this phenomenon.

Contact: Lou Gordon, BALCONY
(212) 219-7777
loug@balconynewyork.com