Now is the time for
Albany to step up on Health Reform.
Help young people
get access to health insurance. |
On October
27, 2008, BALCONY, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY,
DEMOS, FREELANCERS UNION and NYU WAGNER ALUMNI
ASSOCIATION held a special forum on the plight
of uninsured New Yorkers in their 20's -- a
group that includes more than 800,000 people,
many of them working and/or living in New York
without health insurance.
At
that time, we issued a report, Young Adults In
New York State, which concluded the following:
Providing health
care for New York's 800,000 uninsured young adults is
costing hundreds of millions of dollars a year as youths
are utilizing hospital emergency rooms as their primary
care physicians. Furthermore, a profound human
cost is incurred as the uninsured are vulnerable to
potentially catastrophic medical hardships and,
consequently, economic difficulties. Young people
have some of the greatest health needs, but have
significantly reduced access to an adequate health
system. They are faced to combat a system that is
structurally and fiscally stacked against them.
New York
State and the federal government should give priority to
developing an affordable choice for providing young
adults with health insurance. Unfortunately, this issue
is clouded by the current uncertain economic
times.
Additionally, this age
group is twice as likely to be uninsured as are older
New Yorkers, and amount to almost 1/3 of all those who
are uninsured. Many are just getting their start
in the workforce or work for employers who do not offer
health coverage.
Their alternative is to
pay nearly $1,000 a month for an individual policy, or
roll the dice...bet that their youthful good luck will
hold.
Governor Paterson has proposed
legislation to address this problem that is now being
debated in Albany. There is broad support for the
effort to address this problem. But in his plan to
create a relatively inexpensive insurance plan, Gov.
Paterson has proposed a controversial move to break the
state's strong community rating law, and create a
special insurance category.
BALCONY and the
American Cancer Society support the plan to protect the
"young invincibles" by granting them the ability to
obtain low cost health insurance. However, we urge the
Governor and Legislature to modify the plan, maintain
community rating, but create a special COBRA type
extension that would allow young people to buy into
their parent's employer-based coverage. This would
give them the advantage of the group rate, cutting
premiums in half, to between $400 and $500 a
month. Employers would not pay.
In the
meantime, Paterson calls for those young people earning
less than 200% of the poverty level to be eligible for
expanded Family Health Plus, already approved by the
Legislature, and now awaiting a green light from the
federal government.
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| BALCONY Supports COBRA Extension
to 36 Months |
S5471 Breslin
A8400 Peoples BALCONY is urging support
for the COBRA Law Amendment which will extend to
three years the time that laid off workers can keep
their existing health insurance. At this time of
econcomic dislocation, health insurance is a huge
concern for people in this uncertain job market.
By moving from 18 to 36 months, this will offer
families the option of some protection. The
bill passed the Assembly unanimously on June 2 and now
awaits action in the Senate. (S5471 Breslin/A8400
Peoples)
Call your Legislators now!
Assembly: (518)
455-4100 | Senate: (518) 455-2800
BALCONY NEW YORK
633 Third Avenue, 16th Floor
New York, NY 10017
(212) 219-7777
BALCONY, the Business and
Labor Coalition of New York, seeks common ground on
public policy issues in New York State. BALCONY
represents more than 1000 businesses, labor unions,
trade associations, and non profit organizations.
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