It’s that time of year again! …when we all gather to celebrate the anniversaries of the “Big Three” of our nation’s bedrock and very popular social programs: Medicare and Medicaid (July 30), and Social Security (August 14.) These events that we organize annually are always very popular with our partners and supporters, and we invite all to be with us!
Join us on Friday July 29 @ 11 a.m. when we’ll be holding a pandemic-safe celebration on the plaza out front of 780 Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan (@ 48th St.), the office building where Senators Gillibrand and Schumer NYC offices are located. Members of their district office staffs will be joining us since both Senators will be down in DC finishing up work on several important bills before the recess for their August break.
Here are links to all the details:
During our event, we’ll be talking about:
- How everyday New Yorkers and our families benefit from these 3 programs.
- How we want Congress to protect these programs and address threats to them.
- How we want Congress to improve and expand these programs.
We’ll also be celebrating an exciting new, historic health care bill that is poised to be passed by Congress next week that will:
- Negotiate lower drug prices with #Big Pharma for Medicare (first time ever!)
- Limit how much drug corporations can raise their prices each year for Medicare (first time ever!)
- Cap annual out-of-pocket costs for Rx drugs for people on Medicare (first time ever!)
- Expand financial assistance to more low-income people for Rx drug co-pays.
- Lower annual increases for Medicare Part D drug coverage.
- Provide free vaccines for people on Medicare.
- Continue increased premium subsidies for people who buy Affordable Care Act health plans via the new online marketplaces. (Here in NY: “New York State of Health”)
- Here’s a full summary of this bill from Senator Schumer’s office.
We look forward to seeing everyone then! To keep everyone safe during the current COVID-19 omichron BA5 outbreak, please wear a face mask.
Here are some social media toolkits to use this Saturday morning (July 30), to help create some “trending buzz”:
- New York focus: All 3 programs, Medicaid only (from Medicaid Matters NY)
- National focus: Medicare & Medicaid, Medicaid only (both from Health Care for America Now)
- Medicare focus (from Physicians for a National Health Program)
Finally, late yesterday afternoon, Senator Schumer’s office announced agreement with Senator Machin and other Senate Majority members to add provisions to this bill related to tax reforms and climate change. All together, this combined new bill is known as the “Inflation Reduction Act.” We salute and thank Senator Schumer for his tenacious leadership in crafting this historic bill with his colleagues!