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Public Employee Press: PEP Talk

Union backs City plan for Health Care for All

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

DC 37 welcomed Mayor Bill de Blasio’s new plan to guarantee health care for all New Yorkers, including 600,000 city residents who do not have insurance.

De Blasio unveiled the ambitious proposal during his annual state of the city address on Jan. 8.

“Health care is a right, not a privilege reserved for those who can afford it,” de Blasio said. “While the federal government works to gut health care for millions of Americans, New York City (aims) to guarantee that every New Yorker has access to quality, comprehensive care, regardless of immigration status or ability to pay.”

The program would be administered by NYC Health+Hospitals, which is the largest public health-care system in the country.

Under the mayor’s plan, a new service called NYC Care would give the uninsured access to NYC H+H’s network of physicians at 11 hospitals and 70 clinics through the city.

Uninsured New Yorkers and undocumented immigrants also will be encouraged to enroll in MetroPlus, the city’s “public option.” MetroPlus employs many DC 37 members and is also integrated with public hospitals and clinics.

“At a time when hundreds of thousands of city residents cannot access the care they need because of underfunding and uncertainty in Washington, D.C., this plan puts dedicated public health workers, including more than 18,000 DC 37 members, on the cutting edge of comprehensive health care delivery,” said DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido.

“The approach announced by the mayor ultimately makes the system more efficient, cost effective, and most importantly, will result in a healthier city.”

The new initiative comes after years of hard work by the union to increase funding for the city’s public health care system.

DC 37 recently joined a coalition of health care advocates to try to stop the Trump administration from implementing a new policy that could cut more than $360 million in federal assistance to treat immigrant patients at NYC H+H.

Trump proposes to penalize immigrants applying for green cards or visa extensions for using certain government benefits, including housing aid, food assistance, and Medicaid.

That would cause fear among many New Yorkers, forcing patients and even their citizen family members to choose between proper medical treatment and citizenship (see accompanying article by H+H President & CEO Dr. Mitchell Katz and DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido).

The Trump plan could affect as many as 6.5 million American children nationwide and as many as 350,000 immigrants who rely on New York City’s public health care system.

At a time when hundreds of thousands of city residents cannot access the care they need because of underfunding and uncertainty in Washington, D.C., this plan puts dedicated public health workers, including more than 18,000 DC 37 members, on the cutting edge of comprehensive health care delivery.

Health care and immigrant rights advocates, including representatives from the Mayor’s Office on Immigrants, elected officials, community organizations, and DC 37 and other unions, attended a gathering at Gouverneur Hospital on Dec. 6 in Manhattan to denounce Trump’s proposal and call upon New Yorkers to oppose it.

“There are basic human rights — food, housing, education, and health care,” said Carlina Rivera, chair the City Council’s committee on hospitals. She described Trump’s proposed policy change as “part of a larger culture of bigotry and hatred,” before noting that immigrants contribute $2 billion a year to the city’s economy.