Nov. 11, 2023: Sign and Share These Three Online Petitions to Congress

The current “Continuing Resolution” (CR) that is temporarily keeping the federal government open and operating expires in less than a week. Next week Congress will be working to renew it before they recess for Thanksgiving Week, and some important extra things could get tacked on to it. Since last summer, we health care advocates have been pushing to make sure that funding for community health centers and safety net hospitals is continued, so far successfully.

In addition, some long-sought ideas are gaining new traction that are supported by health and human services advocates:

• Providing emergency funding for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food assistance program that is suddenly running out of money, and states will soon have to start turning mothers and young children away and put them on waiting lists. WIC is a popular program that has long had bipartisan support.
• Expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to more low-income families, along the lines of what was done short-term under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that cut the child poverty rate nearly in half. The CTC is also a popular program that has long had bipartisan support.
• Restoring additional funding for child care centers that was provided under ARPA, but it phased out at the end of September. This funding lowered the cost of child care for millions of middle class and lower-income families, and now centers are either starting to close or significantly hike their fees.

Here are three online petitions to Congress that individuals can sign. They’ve only been out for a day or two and have already garnered thousands of signatures.

• Keep funding WIC to feed mothers and young children
• Expand the Child Tax Credit to help more low-income families
• Don’t rescind new IRS funding that is used to audit rich tax cheats.

Please sign these petitions and let others know about them. Congress will be making decisions on these matters by early-on next week, so time is of the essence.

Two other ideas that we all absolutely oppose that the House Republican Majority is pushing are:

• Taking away new funding for the IRS to audit more ultra-rich tax cheats. The newly-captured revenues are being used to pay for the various provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act that (among other things) increase premium subsidies for people who buy their own health insurance on Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
• Passing NEW tax cuts that will benefit special interest corporations.

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Starting Sept. 25: Contact YOUR member of Congress about the federal budget process, and keep the government open!

The new federal budget year FY 2024 arrives on Oct. 1st, yet none of the 12 appropriations bills that comprise that budget have passed and been signed by the President. When this happens (WAY too often!), Congress usually passes a “Continuing Resolution” CR to keep the federal government open and operating at current levels for a limited, specific period time in order to allow Congress to finish up the formal budget process. Otherwise, the government would have to shut down for all but essential services and operations. The appropriations bills are supposed to adhere to broad spending outlines agreed upon by Congress and the President under the terms of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) enacted late last spring to prevent the federal government from defaulting on its debt.

However, the House Republican Majority is balking at developing a CR to avoid a government shutdown. Instead, they are crafting budget bills that violate the FRA by slashing funding on social and domestic programs while raising spending for the military and homeland security, and enacting special tax cuts for special interests. They are also attaching extraneous riders to these bills that have nothing to do with the federal budget, but instead advance very conservative positions on divisive social issues that are not supported by the majority of people. They are also pushing to create a “special commission” to develop proposals to slash spending on “mandatory programs” like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

We urge everyone to contact YOUR OWN Reps. to urge them to:

• Move ahead with a “Clean CR” (no riders) to keep the federal government open and operating.
• Move ahead to craft appropriations bills that follow the parameters laid out in the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
• Set aside the “special commission” idea for now, and just get a regular federal budget done.
• Don’t add any “hot button” social issues to any budget bills.

Here’s where to find contact information for your own U.S. Rep.

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By Mon. Aug. 14: Sign these online documents to tell BIG Pharma CEOs “Stop Suing Medicare!”

Big Pharma and its allies are trying to stop Medicare’s new Rx drug price negotiation program before it even gets going. Four drug corporations and two of their business allies have filed lawsuits against Medicare: Astellas, Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen, Merck, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufactures Association (the industry’s political lobby), and the US Chamber of Commerce.

What’s at stake in this tug of war? Nearly $162 billion in savings to Medicare and people on Medicare over the next decade that will finally lower drug prices.

Here’s what YOU and your organization can do to tell the CEOs of these lawsuit filers what you think:

• Individuals can sign this online petition that calls on them to “drop your lawsuits, and drop your prices!” The goal is 100K signatures by the beginning of next week – over 70K have already signed it!
• Organizations can sign on to this letter to these CEOs that says the same. The goal is 100 groups by next week, and over 55 have already done so.

Please spread the word to invite other people and groups to sign on to these two documents.

Patients in the US have been getting ripped off by drug corporations for years. These companies have charged us two to three times more than what people in all other industrialized countries pay for medicine. In the meantime, these firms are among THE most profitable in the world, and their CEOs make multi-millions every year.

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Wed. Aug. 16, 12 noon — Rally to “Save Medicare’s Lower Drug Prices!”

Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck are suing Medicare to stop it’s new Rx drug price negotiation program before it even gets started! Join New Yorkers outside the NYC office of the notorious law firm Jones Day who is handling their lawsuit. We’ll be gathering at 250 Vesey St. (at the Hudson River) in lower Manhattan (west of the World Trade Center complex.) RSVP and full details here.

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Fri. July 28, 12 noon — Celebrate Medicare’s 58th Anniversary!

Join with people on Medicare and Medicare advocates and activists outside the NYC office of US Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, located in midtown Manhattan at 780 Third Ave. (at 48th St.) Enjoy inspiring speakers and cupcakes!

Sponsors include:

• Center for Independence of the Disabled in NY
• Cross-Union Retirees Organizing Committee
• Metro New York Health Care for All
• New York Statewide Senior Action Council
• Physicians for a National Health Program – New York Metro Chapter
• Professional Staff Congress CUNY

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May 22 to May 31, 2023 — Join in the “Do Your Job — Stop Debt Default!” Campaign

It’s time for everyday New Yorkers and our organizations to speak up and speak out to our state’s US Senators and Representatives!

Add YOUR name and voice to our new “Do Your Job — Stop Debt Default!” campaign:

• Individuals can sign a petition here.
• Organizations and businesses can sign-on to a letter here.
• Everyone can promote this campaign through social media, email, and word-of-mouth.

This quick campaign is being launched today by groups who are partners in or allies of Health Care for America Now’s New York State Network. It will run through the end of this month.

Unless Congress acts immediately, the US government will soon default on our debt payments, thereby causing our state and national economy to crash, the global economy to become unstable, and millions of everyday New Yorkers and our families to suffer economic loss and hardships.

Some radical politicians are blocking legislative action unless they get their way to impose severe spending cuts on social programs that help millions of everyday people with our basic daily needs. They are holding out just to protect and extend decades of unwarranted tax cuts for large corporations and the ultra-rich.

It’s time for obstinate congressional factions to stop this nonsense and their political hardball games, and take action NOW to stop a debt default catastrophe!

Some members of New York’s congressional delegation are fighting hard to prevent debt default and avoid harmful cuts to social programs. We stand with them, and salute them for their efforts and leadership — “we’ve got your back!”

However, other members remain intransigent, and are blocking agreement between the Senate, House, and President. We call on them to reasonably negotiate with their colleagues, and to prioritize the basic needs of everyday people over the excesses of those who already have more than enough yet don’t contribute their fair share.

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Mon. Apr. 17, 2023 @ 9:15 a.m. — “Stop the Speaker! A Protest to Save Our Food, Health Care, and National Economy”

Join everyday New Yorkers as we confront new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during his appearance at the New York Stock Exchange, the heart of US capitalism, corporate profits, and personal wealth accumulation!

We’re going there to:

• Challenge his outrageous claims that people who need food and health care “just need to work harder” and should “give up depending on public programs.” Instead, Speaker McCarthy and his new House Majority should improve and expand government social programs.
• Call on him to protect our national (and global) economy by just passing a “clean” debt ceiling bill with no other provisions, to allow our government to simply pay its bills.
• Demand that he and the House Majority make tax cheats pay what they owe, and make large corporations and the ultra-rich pay their fair share of taxes (just like the rest of us do.) That way, we can easily afford to fully fund the full range of health and human service programs that millions of everyday people need.

Relevant signs and banners are welcome! RSVPs here.

Why this event:

• Speaker Kevin McCarthy is giving a speech at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday morning April 17. He’s going there to lay out his ideas to raise the federal debt ceiling limit while simultaneously slashing spending on social programs that millions of regular people rely on, like Medicaid and SNAP (Food Stamps).
• He and his colleagues also want to create lots of new red-tape bureaucracy to keep people getting the government help they need to get by, and are eligible for.
• At the same time, McCarthy and his team also want to extend tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires in ways that will blow federal debt sky high.

Sponsoring groups [list in formation]:

• Children Defense Fund of New York
• Children’s Health Fund
• Health Care for America Now
• Medicaid Matters New York
• Metro New York Health Care for All
• Middle Collegiate Church
• New York Progressive Action Network
• New York Statewide Senior Action Council
• Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy
• Strong Economy for All
• Upper West Side Action Group

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Sat. Apr. 15, 2023 @ 11 a.m. — Bike Ride and Rally for the New York Health Act (from the Lower East Side to the South Bronx!)

Get your spring bike tune-up, and then head over to Beth Israel Hospital (281 1st Ave. @ 16th St.) in Lower Manhattan to join with fellow cyclists for a mass ride for universal health care for New Yorkers!

The event is jointly sponsored by the Campaign for New York Health, New York Progressive Action Network, and Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition. It starts off with a kick-off press conference, then heads out with rest stop mini-rallies outside the NYC office of Gov. Kathy Hochul (633 3rd Ave. @ 40th St.) in midtown Manhattan around 12 noon, then on to the Harlem State Office Building (163 W. 125th St. @ Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.) around 1 p.m., and finally culminating in a rally around 2:30 p.m. outside Lincoln Hospital (234 E. 149th St. @ Morris Ave.) in the Bronx.

More info and RSVP here.

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Wed. Apr. 5, 2023 @ 1 p.m. — Coverage for All Cacerolazo!

Grab an old pot and wooden spoon, musical instrument, and/or noisemaker, and head over to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s NYC office to “make some noise” for health care for ALL low-income immigrants in New York! Join us outside 633 Third Ave. in midtown Manhattan for a classic “cacerolazo”, a political tactic used throughout the Caribbean and Central and South America to express grassrroots solidarity vis-a-vis elected officials. It’ll be a festive and feisty cacophony!

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Wed. March 1, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. — Coverage for All Albany Advocacy Day

For the first time in 3 years (since the pandemic arrived), it’s time to “get on the bus” and head up to Albany to march and rally outside the NY State Capitol for health care for ALL low-income immigrants in New York. Afterwards, participants will be hitting the halls of the Legislative Office Building to meet with state legislators’ offices to push for the inclusion of Coverage for All bills in this year’s New York State budget.

More info and RSVP for the bus here.

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Weekend of Fri. March 10 to Sun. March 12, 2023 — “Make Sure Grassroots Democracy Stays on Track in New York!

In 2020, after a years-long effort led by the Fair Elections for New York coalition (that we are part of), New York created a landmark new system of public financing of election campaigns to better enable grassroots community leaders to run for public office. It is modeled on a very successful small donor matching system that we’ve had here in NYC for over two decades that has transformed our government for the better. The new statewide system began to launch last fall right after Election Day, to be in effect for next year’s election cycle for state legislators.

For this year’s state budget, Gov. Hochul proposes to fully fund the agency tasked with running this new system (Public Campaign Finance Board), but she has not asked for enough money to match what candidates are already raising from small donors. Rather than step forward to make of the difference, state legislative leaders are suddenly silent on the matter, and some rank-and-file members are getting cold feet.  This whole new system is now in jeopardy, and things could revert back to the old system dominated by special interests, Big Donors, and party powerbrokers.

What to do RIGHT NOW!

Contact Governor Hochul and your State Senator and Assemblymember to demand that New York’s new public campaign finance program is fully funded in this year’s state budget, so that it can successfully operate for next year’s elections. Call on them to: “Stand up for small donors and grassroots democracy!”

• Email lawmakers via their websites: Governor Hochul, State Senate, State Assembly
• Post messages on lawmakers’ social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok)
• Call lawmakers’ offices and leave a voice message: Governor Hothul (518-474-8390), State Senate (518-455-2800), State Assembly (518-455-4100)
• Alert others to this situation to ask them to take action via email and social media.

Thanks for stepping forward to help out at this crucial moment!  Having a successful and functional public financing system in New York will help level the playing field against all the various special interests that have long blocked a universal health care program here.

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Tues. Feb. 14, 2023 @ 12 noon — “Gov. Hochul: Have a Heart! Keep Your Promise to Cover ALL New Yorkers!”

Join us and our partners in the Coverage for All campaign for a boisterous rally outside the NYC office of Gov. Kathy Hochul, 633 Third Ave. (at 40th St.) in midtown Manhattan. In her new budget proposals for FYI 2023-4, she wants to expand eligibility for New York’s very successful Essential Plan to more low-income people and families, but excludes immigrants who don’t have proper documentation. We heartily disagree! In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we now know that ALL low-income New Yorkers should be covered by our public insurance programs!

During last year’s budget negotiation process, Gov. Hochul said she would seek permission from the federal government to use their funding of our Essential Plan to cover more low-income people, including all immigrants. Now she has mysteriously backtracked, and has not explained why she changed her mind.

We’ll hear heartbreaking personal stories from low-income uninsured immigrants who need coverage for themselves and their family, and the perspectives of doctors and nurses and community health centers who serve them nonetheless, faith leaders, supportive public officials, and advocates.

Click here to find out more about the Coverage for All campaign.

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Wed. Nov. 16, 2022 @ 10 a.m. — NYC Town Hall to “End Hospital Patient Debt!” at Brooklyn Borough Hall

Join us and our partners in the End Medical Debt campaign for a Town Meeting with state legislators and everyday New Yorkers like you! We’re gathering to hear from each other, and join together to take action to help people and families who are stuck with hospital bills that they simply cannot pay.  

The address is 209 Joralemon St. in downtown Brooklyn – take the 2, 3, 4, or 5 train to Borough Hall, R train to Court St., or A, C, or F train to Jay St.-MetroTech.

COME SHARE YOUR OWN STORY of hospital patient debt and how it affected you and your family! Or come to just show public concern about the issue, listen to others’ stories, and learn what you can do with others to help address this growing crisis. Register here to attend.

This event is planned to put the issue of unpayable hospital bills “on the map” for next year’s legislative session that starts in January. It will kick-off a series of similar Town Halls across New York State this fall.

In recent years, sky-high hospital prices that generate medical debt which patients simply cannot pay off has emerged as a top-tier issue for the public. There are things that government can do to address this crisis, but only if there is enough pressure directed at public officials to take action.

Here in New York, one needed step is for the Legislature and Governor to update and improve our state’s Hospital Financial Assistance Law, to make it easier for patients to use and make it available to more middle-income patients and families.  

All hospitals in New York are licensed by the State as non-profit, mission-driven charities obligated to provide affordable services to their communities, and all are required to offer financial assistance programs to lower-income patients. However, research shows that hospitals’ record on compliance is weak and haphazard, despite New York taxpayers providing them over $1 billion in indigent care funding each year. In many cases, patients are never told about these programs, and hospital websites often bury the information so that it’s difficult to learn about how to access them.

We look forward to seeing everyone there to stand with us and our partners as we stand up for New Yorkers stuck with unpayable hospital bills.

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Aug. 5-7 — Voice YOUR support for the Inflation Reduction Act!

This weekend, the US Senate is taking up the new Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), moving it ahead under its special “budget reconciliation” process that will preclude any filibuster from opponents. After months of delays and painstaking negotiations, our own New York Senator Schumer, the Majority Leader, has closed the deal with his colleagues.

What has made it to the finish line in the bill for health care is all good, and lays out a foundation to build upon going forward.

• Requires Medicare to negotiate to lower prices for high-cost prescription drugs, including insulin.
• Creates rebate penalties on drug corporations when they raise their prices above the general inflation rate.
• Caps the amount of co-pays that people on Medicare Part D have to pay for medicines at $2,000/year.
• Caps the monthly co-pays for insulin to $35 per prescription.
• Makes all vaccines free for people on Medicare.
• Expands eligibility to Medicare Part D’s “Low Income Subsidy” (aka “Extra Help”) to more low-income people.
• Slows the annual growth of Medicare Part D premiums.
• Continues for three more years the expanded health insurance premium subsidies for people and families who buy their own coverage on the Affordable Care Act online marketplaces (here in New York: “New York State of Health”.)

How New Yorkers can help get this bill over the finish line:

• Contact our two US Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to a) thank them for their leadership to get a final IRA deal negotiated with their colleagues, and b) get the job done over this weekend.
• Contact your own US Representative to urge they take up the IRA bill as soon as the Senate is done.
• Use phone, emails, and social media platforms to contact lawmakers and your own family, friends, and colleagues!

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Fri. July 29, 11 a.m. — “Celebrate 2022 Anniversaries of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security with our US Senators!”

Join us this Friday, July 29 @ 11 a.m. outside the New York City offices of Senator Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Sen. Charles Schumer in midtown Manhattan (3rd Ave. & 48th St.) to celebrate these three bedrock social programs that are beloved by Americans and our families across the political spectrum!

• Medicare provides health care to 64 million people in the US, and nearly 4 million New Yorkers.
• Medicaid provides health care to 88 million people across the US, and over 8 million New Yorkers.
• Social Security provides income support to 70 million retirees, people with disabilities, and child and spousal survivors of deceased workers.

Our mantra is “Keep ’em strong, and pass ’em along!”  

…and we have LOTS of good ideas about how to protect and defend these programs, and how to improve and expand them for more people.

We’re also excited about the new bill that Congress is poised to pass next week that will lower drug prices and cap Rx drug co-pays for people on Medicare. After a 20-year campaign, Congress is finally standing up to #BigPharma to curb their long-running price-gouging and profiteering! This bill will also keep expanded premium subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans in place for another 3 years.

All are welcome, and please bring along colleagues, friends, and family! Senators Gillibrand and Schumer will be hard at work down in DC finalizing important bills before their August recess, but staff from both Senators’ offices will be joining us to hear our remarks and respond to them. We’ll gathering outside on the plaza in front of the office building in order to keep everyone safe during the current COVID-19 omichron BA5 outbreak. Please wear a face mask.

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Fri. June 10, 2022, 12 noon — “Earth to Europe and USA: End COVID Monopolies Now!”

Join with health and social justice activists worldwide and here in NYC as we collectively undertake Global Days of Actions being organized by the People’s Vaccine Alliance to demand that the US and European countries to “end COVID monopolies” and “vaccinate and treat the world now!” These events are being held prior to the the upcoming annual Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The issue of the WTO adopting a comprehensive response to the COVID-19 and future pandemics will be one of the top agenda items.

Here in NYC, the #EndVaccineApartheid NYC campaign and allies will be gathering in Grand Central Plaza (622 Third Ave. at 40th St.) and marching to the UN Missions of Switzerland, European Union, United Kingdom, Germany, and United States. Since the fall of 2020, these Western nations have stood in the way of efforts to temporarily waive international intellectual property rights so that COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines can be immediately mass produced and used everywhere around the world, particularly in the Global South.

As a result, millions get sick and many die, the pandemic keeps spreading, and new viral variants emerge that threaten all of us everywhere. Instead of protect everyday people everywhere, these countries are protecting #BigPharma’s pandemic profiteering. Over 120 nations are supporting a proposal from India and South Africa for the WTO to adopt a comprehensive “TRIPS waiver” to end the global pandemic as quickly as possible.

Full event details are here, and the Facebook event is here.

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Sat. June 18, 2022 — Get on the Bus for the Poor People’s Campaign’s “March on Washington, and to the Polls”

The Poor People’s Campaign (PPC), founded by civil rights hero Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968 and revived in 2017 by Rev, Dr, William Barber, is heading back to Washington, DC! They’re gathering to launch a national effort to engage voters on important issues and “get out the vote” for this fall’s midterm elections! This event will be a mass education and mobilization rally on The Mall in front of the US Capitol in Washington, DC. More details can be found here.

PPC’s New York State affiliate is organizing buses from across New York City and State for this event — RSVPs and more info about them are available here.

Health care for all has LONG been one of PPC’s priorities. You can read their platform here. In New York, they help to lead the Campaign for New York Health, an effort to create a public, universal health care program.

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June 2022 — Contact Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand to “Get These Bills Done!”: Pandemic Response, and Pandemic Recovery

Two important bills to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic and help us all recover from it have been stuck in the Senate for weeks and months:

• Restoring funding for various domestic and global pandemic-fighting programs that ended back n mid-March
• Crafting a response to the Build Back Better Act passed by the House last fall, and making sure that all the good health care provisions in it continue in a new Senate “budget reconciliation” bill.

(See our blog post here for all the details about them.)

These two bill MUST move ahead to passage this month, before the congressional July 4th recess. After then, everything will likely shift into full-out election campaign season mode, making progress on most matters nearly impossible. The House has already acted on both of them.

We urge you to reach out our two US Senators from New York, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand about these two bills. Both Senators are supportive of them, and are pushing to bring them to fruition. They deserve our thanks, and encouragement to keep working for a final deal. Here’s how to contact them:

• Sen. Schumer – by email;  by phone
• Sen. Gillibrand – by email; by phone

Please also contact them on social media.

As you contact both Senators, it is important to stress that final deals are needed this month.

Finally, it’s also helpful to check-in with your U.S. Representative to thank them for what they’ve already done, and to encourage them to keep working with the Senate to get these additional bills completed. Here’s how to get in touch with them.

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Thurs. May 26, 5:30 p.m. — “Come Out for Uvalde, Come Out Against Gun Violence!”

join us as we join with Gays Against Guns and allied organizations tomorrow evening, Thurs. May 26 for “Come Out for Uvalde! Come Out Against Gun Violence!”, a solidarity march and vigil. People will gather at 5:30 p.m. outside PS 212, an elementary school in Hell’s Kitchen located at 328 West 48^th Street (bet. 8^th & 9^th Aves.), and then march over into Times Square for a vigil and rally along 46^th Street at the red steps in front of the TKTS booth.

Gun violence is a public health crisis here in the US, yet our national lawmakers are unwilling and unable to adequately address it, primarily for political reasons. In the meantime, there are some states (like New York!) that have taken some steps to mitigate gun violence with some degree of significant success, so there is definite “proof of concept” real-world experience to draw on.  We stand in partnership with those advocates and activists spearheading these efforts.

One of those groups here in NYC is Gays Against Guns, a group based out of the LGBT community that formed in the wake of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando in 2016 and has since spawned chapters nationwide.  Every time there is another mass shooting, GAG holds a march and vigil to remember those who have been murdered, to stand in solidarity with the directly affected families, friends, and communities, and to call out for lawmakers to enact robust gun violence prevention laws and programs.  One of their iconic tactics is to feature ghostly “human beings” to honor and remember those murdered in gun-caused massacres.

We look forward to you joining with us and other New Yorkers to remember, reflect, and take a stand for gun violence prevention as a public health issue. Feel free to bring your own relevant signs and banners.

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Tues. May 3rd, at 5 p.m. — Rally to Defend Reproductive Rights!

We have LONG supported comprehensive reproductive rights for women, including the right to terminate pregnancies. These rights were first affirmed as constitutional by the US Supreme Court in 1973 in their landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, and subsequently in the Casey v. Planned Parenthood ruling in 1992.

According to a leaked draft of a decision expected later this spring from the Court, this right is about to be revoked. The implications for a broad range of personal and privacy rights are profound, including health care rights. In addition, such a decision will be the first time that the Court as ever negated a constitutional right once it has been recognized by them — an extraordinary and shameful step.

In response, our colleagues at the Women’s March and their allies are mobilizing nationwide for protests today, Tues. May 3, at 5 p.m. local time. RSVP for local location info here.

Here in NYC, people are gathering for a rally at 5 p.m. in Foley Sq. (Worth and Center Streets in lower Manhattan.)

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Fri. March 11, 12 noon: “End COVID Monopolies NYC: 2 Years of Pandemic, 6 Million Dead”

Join us on the 2nd anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaration of a global pandemic as we take our grief and outrage to Wall Street and the heart of US capitalism. Join us to call out the real culprits behind the endless COVID-19 pandemic: Big Pharma. Join us to demand the Biden administration stop coddling the world’s most-profitable industry and provide global leadership to end the pandemic everywhere NOW!

All participants are asked to wear black clothing to this event.

This event will be the NYC part of a International Day of Action organized by the Global People’s Vaccine Alliance. It will complement over two dozen being held around the world in North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Over 2 years, almost 6 million people around the globe have died (nearly 1 million in the US alone), and new, deadly viral variants keep emerging that threaten all of us, throw our daily lives into havoc, push our hospitals to beyond the breaking point, and short-circuit our economy.

World leaders have yet to take real decisive action to end the pandemic once and for all. Instead, they just dither and mouth altruistic pablum. Occasionally, they take timid steps that, while modestly helpful, do not in any way disrupt “business as usual” or address the enormity of the crisis. Meanwhile, #BigPharma corporations rake in billions in profits for their coffers, shareholders, and executives, and refuse to share their know-how for the mass production of vaccines, treatments, and tests.

It’s time for a change. It’s time to end the pandemic NOW!

Sponsor groups [list in formation]:

• ACT UP/New York
• Center for Popular Democracy & CPD Action
• Health Global Action Project (HeatlhGAP)
• Housing Works
• Metro New York Health Care for All
• New York Trade Justice Coalition
• Physicians for a National Health Program, NY Metro Chapter
• Right to Health Action
• Rise and Resist
• Showing Up for Racial Justice NYC

Click here to sign-on as an organizational sponsor. All that is required of sponsors is to promote the event to you members and networks, and to work to actually turn some people out for it. Groups are invited to bring organization banners to ID their participation. Message-specific signs for this event will be provided for participants to use.

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Sun. Jan. 16, 2022: For MLK Weekend, Take Action for Voting Rights and Democracy

Upset about the blocking of voting rights and democracy reforms in Congress? So are we …along with millions of other New Yorkers and Americans of good will.

We know that achieving true health care justice and health care for all will simultaneously require protecting and improving our democracy, including the right to vote and have one’s vote count and be respected.

The events of this past week have been a see-saw. President Biden and Vice President Harris finally spoke out forcefully for the voting rights and democracy reforms we need and things looked somewhat hopeful. Then two members of the Senate Majority said they would not support the procedural changes to make that possible.

We can all be angry and dejected. Yet if we’ve learned nothing in all our long years of social justice advocacy and activism is that we must keep hope alive, and keep at it until the job is done, no matter how long it takes. Recalling the wisdom of MLK, “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” (and only if WE bend it, TOGETHER.)

We invite you to join with us and all our partners in the Let New York Vote and Fair Elections for New York campaigns for “Fight for Our Freedom to Vote: NYS Virtual MLK Call to Action”.

It will take place online this Sunday evening January 16 from 5:30 to 6:00 p.m. Our own U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer will be the guest speaker.   Immediately following, there will be an online phonebank to make calls to people in Arizona and West Virginia from 6 to 8 p.m., to talk to them about how important this matter is to all the rest of us all across the U.S.

(Hey!  It’s going to be very cold and snowy then, and you likely won’t have to work the next day, and we’re all in pandemic semi-lockdown anyway, so why not join with your fellow New Yorkers to make real democracy happen, one person to another.)

RSVP here to participate: https://www.mobilize.us/commoncause/event/436979/

Here is the Facebook event to share: https://www.facebook.com/events/405743181348966

Here’s a list of NYC area MLK Day events that will all center on the fight for democracy, and feature terrific speakers and performing artists – they are all online:

Mon. 8:30 a.m. – “The Dream: No Justice, No Peace” hosted by the National Action Network; guest speakers include Kristen Clarke (US Dept. of Justice), Martin Luther King III and Andrea Waters King (Drum Major Institute), and Janet Yellin (US Dept. of Treasury); livestreaming at https://nationalactionnetwork.net/ or www.facebook.com/nationalactionnetwork or www.youtube.com/nationalactionnetwork

Mon. 10:30 a.m. – Annual Tribute to MLK, hosted by the Brooklyn Academy of Music; guest speakers and performers include Dr. Imani Perry, Nona Hendryx, Craig Harris and Tailgaters Tale, Sing Harlem, Kyle Marshall, and other civic leaders and activists TBA; livestream only at www.bam.org/mlktribute

Mon. 11 a.m. or 7 p.m. – MLK, Activism, and the Arts, hosted by the Apollo Theater; guest speakers and performers include Najee Dorsey, Jonathan McCrory, Garrett McQueen, Rashad Robinson, Damian Thomas, Jacqueline Woodson, Andrew Young, Jami Floyd, Brian Lehrer, Terrance McKnight, Melissa Harris Perry, Alison Stewart, and Kai Wright; RSVPs and info: https://www.apollotheater.org/event/uptown-hall-mlk-activism-and-the-arts-broadcast/

Mon. 1:30 p.m. – King Day Public Policy Forum, hosted by the National Action Network; featuring various state and local public officials from across New York; livestreaming at https://nationalactionnetwork.net/ or www.facebook.com/nationalactionnetwork or www.youtube.com/nationalactionnetwork

Mon. 3:00 p.m. — “No Celebration Without Legislation: A Voting Rights Act Teach-in” hosted by NAACP Brooklyn; more info and RSVP https://www.brooklynnaacp.org/calendar/2022/1/17/action-alert-voting-rights-in-ny

Mon. 4:00 p.m. — “Continuing the Movement Together”, hosted by the NYS Poor People’s Campaign; guest speaker Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis; RSVP and more info here ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thurs. Nov. 18, 2021: Special Online Action Hour for “Build Back Better”

Congress returned to session this week and their number one priority before the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday is to the Get Build Back Better package done. The House is set to vote on it by the end of this week, and then it will go to the Senate where it will hopefully be quickly taken up early-on next week. While the momentum looks promising, we everyday folks who support all the good –and very popular– stuff that is in this package are going to have push to make it happen.

Here in New York, both our Senators are supportive of this legislative package. Looking over our House members, our focus remains on Rep. Kathleen Rice (NY-4, Nassau), the lone member of the House Majority from our state who has not yet fully committed to support it. Ten days ago, she and a few of her colleagues prevented a floor vote on the Build Back Better Act, but they all promised they would support it this week when it is brought up for a vote again. Now is the time to hold her to her promise!

Join us and our Long Island allies in NY-4 Health Care Action for a special online “Action Hour” tomorrow (Thurs. Nov. 18) from 12-1 p.m. as we zero in on Rep. Rice and call on her to keep her promise to support Build Back Better. Since we all have a stake in this important package, you don’t have to be a constituent to participate – you just have to be a New Yorker!

We’ll be providing the latest state-of-play updates, and then collectively having fun and “feeling our power” as we make phone calls and send texts to her offices, post to social media platforms, and report back to each other about our experiences. It’s always much more enjoyable to do this work together as a group than just flying solo from your home or office!

Join us to MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

• RSVP here for the zoom info and to get the special Action Toolkit.
• You can also share this Facebook event link to invite others.

Thanks for joining in and staying in this crucial fight to help everyday people and families to recover in the wake of our ongoing pandemic and its serious economic recession. Together, we WILL get it done!

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Fri. Nov. 5, 2021: Phone Blitz to Save “Build Back Better”

After WEEKS of tense and intense negotiations, House members have finally come together behind an agreed-upon Build Back Better package, and votes on it have been scheduled for later today so that it can move on to the Senate.

Suddenly Rep, Kathleen Rice (NY-4, Nassau) is joining with few other colleagues to stop the vote today by now demanding a Congressional Budget Office “score” (financial analysis) of the package first.  This demand is a completely bogus request at this point in the process, and is just being put forward to stop the whole thing dead in its tracks.

Furthermore, an analysis was released by the Joint Committee on Taxation earlier this week that showed that the package was in complete financial balance and fully paid for and won’t add a penny to the federal deficit. In addition, the CBO will be releasing its own analysis in the next week or so because it is required under Senate rules.

We urge all New Yorkers to make calls to Rice’ Capitol Hill office ASAP (202-225-5516) and demand she stop standing in the way of today’s vote on Build Back Better, that she stand with her colleagues and with House and Senate leaders and with President Biden, and that she stand with her constituents to support the package.  Polls show that the components of Build Back Better are immensely popular with the voters, and there’s good health care stuff in it.

We gptta’ make her phones ring!

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Sun. Oct. 17,2021: “Time to Deliver!” Rally for “Build Back Better”

Things are building to a head in Congress in the coming few weeks as our Senators and Representatives seek to a) update our social contract and safety net in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and recession, b) protect the (literal) habitability of our planet, and c) set national standards for voting rights and elections. All three of these goals are fundamental to advancing health care justice across our nation.

Unfortunately, things are at a stand-still right now. One side of the political aisle (Republicans) refuses to engage on these issues at all except to obstruct and throw rhetorical pot shots from the sidelines. On the other side of the aisle, Senate and House majorities (Democrats) are actually quite united on what they want to do. However, a very few hold-outs are responding to rich donors and powerful business interests rather than working with their colleagues to robustly address the needs of millions of us everyday people who are daily living in crisis.

Join us and LOTS of other issue advocates and activists as we unite to call on Sen. Charles Schumer to exert his special leadership role to “get the job done now!” While we all support him in this effort, we will let him and his colleagues know that “It’s time to deliver!” on the Build Back Better package, defending and strengthening our democracy, and preserving Planet Earth.

We’ll all be gathering this Sunday, October 17^th in Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn at 2 p.m. to march and rally in solidarity. Bring signs and banners expressing your particular concerns and priorities so that we can create a gorgeous mosaic for social and economic justice.

Here is a webpage to learn more about Sunday’s rally:

• www.fairelectionsny.org/countdown-rally-time-to-deliver

…and here is the Facebook event to share with others:

• www.facebook.com/events/882992225917430

The current Congressional stalemate boils down to this: Who is going to prevail in these fights over social programs, democracy, and our planet?  

• Those very few who already have the most power and influence and who hugely benefit from a grossly unfair –and unsustainable– status quo?  
• Or all the rest of us who believe in and desperately need social, economic, political, and environmental justice now?

We know that it’s going to take both a strong and persistent inside and outside game for us to succeed. Yes, we need to meet with lawmakers and make our case, but we also need to be out in the streets manifesting our breadth and depth, and building our grassroots power.

See you on this Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn!

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Mon. Oct. 4, 2021: Join Our Phone Bank to Build Back Better

Congress is currently stymied over the future of the Build Back Better plan which contains many good provisions to advance access to health care, address the social and economic determinants of health, and overall update our national social contract and safety net for the 21^st century. This plan is VERY popular with the public across the political spectrum.

The stalemate is over the robustness of the plan and how to pay for it. In the wake of the still-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its severe economic downturn, it is imperative that this plan be as big and bold as possible so that we can end the pandemic and its many adverse impacts on struggling everyday people.

Unfortunately, Republicans in both chambers say they will do nothing to move Build Back Better ahead and will actively oppose it, strictly for political reasons. Given the very slim balance of power in Congress, support from all other Senators and Reps. therefore becomes crucial. The good news for us here in New York is that both our U.S. Senators (Schumer and Gillibrand) and almost all of the Reps. from the greater NYC area are supporting as strong a Build Back Better plan as possible.

However, a couple of Reps. (Tom Suozzi and Kathleen Rice, NY-3 and NY-4 respectively) are sitting on the fence, and questioning measures to pay for it such as negotiating drug prices with drug corporations, and raising taxes on multi-national corporations and ultra-rich families so that they pay their fair share of taxes just like the rest of us. The savings from drug price negotiations will be essential to improving and expanding Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, the Child Health Insurance Program, and home and community-based services for the frail elderly and people living with disabilities.

We invite you to join in a virtual online phone bank taking place this coming Wed. evening Oct. 6^th from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Participants will be calling people who live in these two districts to alert them to what’s going on in Congress with regard Build Back Better, and then patch them through to their Rep.’s Capitol Hill office to leave their own message …all from the comfort of your own home while simultaneously hanging out with others online!

Please use this link to RSVP to join in this phone bank:

• https://www.mobilize.us/peoplesaction/event/418719/

You can share this Facebook event to invite your online friends to join in:

• https://facebook.com/events/s/virtual-action-hour-tell-reps-/398604324980556/

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Mon. Sept. 27, 2021: Contact Congress to Get Build Back Better Across the Finish Line!

The fight for the Build Back Better plan is at a full-tilt boil in Congress this week, and it’s very important to get it over the finish line as soon as possible. Overall, the plan does many good things in many ways to help out everyday people in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying economic recession, the legacies of the Great Recession from a decade ago, and the runaway economic inequalities that have been fostered and grown to a chasm over recent decades.

There are some very important health care components in the Build Back Better plan, including provisions to:

• Direct Medicare to negotiate prices with prescription drug companies, and allow employers and unions to also take advantage of them.
• Add new dental, hearing, and vision benefits to Medicare, cap annual out-of-pocket costs for people on Medicare, and lower the eligibility age for Medicare.
• Expand Medicaid to all low-income people no matter what state they live in, eliminate barriers to Medicaid for low-income legal immigrants, and provide a full year of Medicaid coverage to all low-income women after giving birth.
• Permanently fund the State Child Insurance Program.
• Make Affordable Care Act health plans more affordable to everyone regardless of income.
• Expand the workforce for home and community-based long-term care.
• Update the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program to cover more low-income seniors and people with disabilities.
• Require large corporations and the ultra-rich to pay their fair share of taxes, so that all of the above can be accomplished.

We urge everyone to contact YOUR member of Congress to express your opinions about the Build Back Better plan:

• make phone calls to both their Capitol Hill and local district offices (click here for phone numbers.)
• send them an email.
• post to their social media accounts.
• post to your own social media accounts and be sure to tag your Rep.

Be sure to always tell your own story about how Build Back Better will affect you, your family, your friends and colleagues, and your community.

The next week or so will be crucial to whether Build Back Better comes to fruition or not, so NOW is the time to make your voice heard. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tues. Aug. 10, 2021: “US Democracy on Life Support” Rally

The fight for universal health care is inextricably linked to the fight to protect and improve our democracy in the US. We will only achieve the former if we preserve and strengthen the latter.

We are pleased to be joining with our partners and allies in  the Fair Elections for New York and Let New York Vote campaigns to hold a special event tomorrow, Tues. Aug. 10 at 1 p.m., to call on our US Sen. Charles Schumer from NY to assert leadership and quickly move the “For the People Act” (S.1, H.R. 1) forward in the US Senate.  We urge you to join us if you can for “US Democracy on Life Support: Schumer Must Save It!”

We’ll be gathering in Battery Park at the tip of lower Manhattan, adjacent to the East Coast WWII Memorial located to the east of Castle Clinton, within sight of the Statue of Liberty. (Take 1 train to South Ferry, 4 or 5 train to Bowling Green, R or W train to Whitehall, or J or Z train to Broad St.)

Right now a strong effort is underway in Congress to pass this bill that will to a) protect and expand voting rights by setting national standards for all states, b) require non-partisan drawing of congressional and legislative districts in all states, c) public financing of election campaigns and the banning of “dark money” in all states, and d) strengthening anti-corruption laws for federal elected officials.  Because of what’s been happening in several states in recent months to severely restrict voting rights and procedures, the need for this bill couldn’t be more clear.

This bill has already passed the House back in the Spring and has been waiting action in the Senate for weeks.  Sen. Schumer holds the key to moving it forward to a vote. Given the legislative districting calendar for this decade in response to last year’s national decennial census, the bill needs to be taken up right away, before the Senate recesses at the end of this week for their summer break. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mon. Dec. 19 & Tues. Dec. 20, 2019: Contact Senator Schumer and Others to “Protect Patients from Surprise Medical Bills!”

What’s been happening:

• New York has a surprise medical bill law that works well, but it only protects people who buy their own coverage, small businesses, and those who have “fully-insured” coverage from an employer.
• Many employers and unions provide “self-insured” coverage that falls under federal rules, so a national law is needed to protect people who have that kind of insurance.
• NO New Yorkers currently have ANY protection against emergency air ambulance bills because that industry falls under federal rules. These bills can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars.
• Congress has been crafting bi-partisan bills this year that were moving along OK until industry forces who benefit from the status quo –hospitals, high-end medical specialists, and private equity funds– lobbied hard to stop the process.
• Momentum is building now to include a final bill that has just been agreed upon as part of end-of-the-year bills, and support from everyday people and patients is important now to make that happen.
• Our own Senator Schumer, who is the Minority Leader in the US Senate, is key to getting this new deal over the finish line in the next couple of days. A bipartisan, bicameral deal has been struck across the relevant committees of jurisdiction, and we now need him and his Minority colleagues to signal that they are on board with the it.

What you can DO:

Contact Senators Schumer, Gillibrand, and YOUR member of Congress to “protect patients from surprise medical bills before you come home for the holidays!”

• Call 202-224-3121 and ask for their office.
• Email them via their websites (see www.senate.gov and www.house.gov)
• Tweet at them, and post messages on their social media pages.

What you can SAY:

• Share your own story about any surprise medical bill you may have been sent.
• “All New Yorkers need protection from surprise medical bills under a federal law because New York’s law alone doesn’t cover everyone for all services.”
• “We need your leadership to get the new negotiated bill included in any end-of-year legislative package.”

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Wed. Oct 23, 2019 at 10 a.m.: NYC Public Hearing on the New York Health Act

Jointly convened by the New York State Senate and Health Committees at the Bronx Library Center, 310 East Kingsbridge Road in the Bronx. Testimony is by invitation only — click here to submit a request. Join the Campaign for New York Health for a rally and press conference outside the library at 9 a.m. More info here. Bring signs and banners!

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Friday, Sept. 20, 2019: Climate Strike March NYC: Health Solidarity Contingent

On Fri. Sept. 20th, many high school and university students will be walking out of class to call attention to the dire impacts of climate change for themselves and future generations. Here in New York, they will be gathering in Foley Square in lower Manhattan, and then marching down to Battery Park. Many other non-students and their groups are joining in solidarity.

It’s quite clear that climate change poses grave threats to public health and our health care system. That’s why we are joining with our partners in health care unions to form a health contingent for the march, to be hosted by the New York State Nurses Association. Please join us as we join with NYSNA on the southwest corner of Lafayette and Worth Streets starting at 12 noon., and bring along any appropriate signs and banners referencing the health aspects of the climate crisis.

We salute the following groups for officially co-sponsoring our contingent. Let us know if you’re group or union would also like to do so.

• Campaign for New York Health
• Commission on the Public’s Health System in NYC
• Metro New York Health Care for All
• New York State Nurses Association
• Physicians for a National Health Program, NY Metro Chapter

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May 21, 2019: It‘s REALLY time to stand up for women’s reproductive rights!

“Stop the Bans!” Rally: Tuesday, May 21, 5:30 p.m. in Foley Square in lower Manhattan

Hosted by Planned Parenthood of New York City Action Fund and National Institute for Reproductive Health Action Fund .

In recent weeks, several states have enacted draconian laws that either outright ban abortion care or so severely restricted it to constitute a de facto ban. The outward rationale the proponents of these laws put forward is based on irrational medical science and extreme religious ideology. However, these new laws are actually just blatant political moves to mobilize anti-choice forces in advance of next year’s elections, and to blatantly challenge the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in the lower courts so as to force a reconsideration of it.

At the same time, the Trump administration has also moved to end federal “Title X” (of the Public Health Service Act) funding to any health care provider that provides abortion care or offers information, counseling, and referrals about it. Further, they are nominating many judges to the federal bench who openly oppose reproductive rights, are allowing employers to limit insurance coverage for contraception based on the owner’s alleged religious beliefs, and are allowing health care providers to deny access to reproductive health care services and to refuse to generally treat certain patients based on their alleged religious beliefs. These policies impose the religious beliefs of a minority on all the rest of us.

We believe that reproductive rights are health care rights, and both are a human right! Join us as we protest these laws, and stand in solidarity with our colleagues and allies who are on the frontline of the fight to protect and expand reproductive rights in the U.S and internationally. See you there!

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May 28, 2019: Once again, it’s time to “Get on the bus! for universal health care!”

For the first time ever, the New York State Senate Health Committee is holding an official hearing on the New York Health Act, a bill to create a fully-public universal health care program covering all New York residents. The hearing will be held starting at 10 a.m. in Hearing Room A of the Legislative Office Building in Albany, and will be joint with the Assembly Health Committee.  The Committees chairs are encouraging all groups and entities with statewide scope to present testimony on the bill.

Our job?  To show up and fill the seats in the room (about 200), bear witness to the proceedings, and express our support for “Health Care for All”. The Campaign for New York Health, the large umbrella coalition that promotes accurate information about and builds support for the bill, is organizing FREE buses from around the state so that lots of everyday New Yorkers can attend. Buses from New York City will be leaving from downtown Brooklyn, the Bronx, and midtown Manhattan. You can sign up here.

We look forward to seeing you then!

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October 2018: Help Voters Learn about Key Health Care Issues

Join in our exciting “Vote for Health Care!” public outreach and education campaign to register voters, help them understand “what’s at stake” for health care in this fall’s elections, and motivate people to show up at the polls.  (Note:  This campaign is not in support of or opposed to any particular candidates or political parties.)

We’re working with our partners in NY-11 for Health Care to focus our efforts in New York’s 11th Congressional District, the only one in NYC in serious contention this fall.  It covers all of Staten Island and parts of southwest Brooklyn (Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach, and Gravesend.)

We’re leafleting commuters during evening rush hours at the Staten Island Ferry terminal in lower Manhattan (adjacent to Battery Park.)  Our materials lay out the key health care issues that our next Congress and state government will face.

YOU can show up and help us out on the following dates:

• Thurs. Oct. 4
• Wed. Oct. 10 — RSVP here
• Thurs. Oct. 11
• Thurs. Oct. 18 — RSVP here
• Wed. Oct. 24 — RSVP here
• Thurs. Oct. 25 — RSVP here
• Thurs. Nov. 1 — RSVP here
• Mon. Nov. 5 — RSVP here

We’re also holding a special “Community Town Hall: What’s at Stake for Health Care in the 2018 Elections” on the North Shore of Staten Island on Monday evening Oct. 29 at the Nation Builders / Edificiadores de Naciones church, located at 947 Castleton Avenue in West New Brighton.  The event is from 7 to 9 p.m., and an informal reception will precede it starting at 6:15 p.m.  The event will feature a panel of speakers on key health care issues, some Q&A with the audience, and personal story sharing.

RSVP for this event are requested via Facebook or Action Network.

The following members of NY-11 for Health Care are co-sponsors:  Center for Independence of the Disabled-NY, Commission on the Public’s Health System in NYC, CWA Local 1102, El Centro del Immigrantes, Gray Panthers of Staten Island, Move Forward Staten Island, NYS Nurses Association, 1199 SEIU, Staten Island for Change, Sustainable Staten Island [list in formation]