One of the most exciting proposals on the table during the current state budget negotiations in Albany is “Coverage for All.”  It will open up New York’s special public insurance “Essential Plan” to all low-income New Yorkers regardless of their immigration status. This is nothing radical since we have long covered all children and adolescents in low-income families through Child Health Plus, and pregnant and post-partum women through Medicaid. If we’ve learned nothing from living through two years of pandemic, it’s crucial to make sure everyone is enrolled in health insurance in order to promote good public health.

As we head into the final week of budget negotiations, NOW is the time for ALL OF US to call our Governor Hochul and state legislators to make sure Coverage for All gets included in their final agreement.  The good news is that there’s strong support for it in both the State Senate and Assembly. However, so far Governor Hochul is not yet on board, so the Legislature must stand strong and fight for it.

We urge everyone to contact state lawmakers on this issue, by phone, email, and social media:

• Governor Hochul – 518-474-8390 (phone); online email form here; @GovKathyHochul (Twitter & Instagram); Facebook page here
• New York State Senators – Find contact info by Senator here
• New York State Assemblymembers – Find contact info by Assemblymember here

• Simple message to Governor Hochul: “Accept the Legislature’s Coverage for All proposal in the final budget deal.”
• Simple message to Legislators:  “Keep fighting for Coverage for All in the final budget deal.”

Several years ago, the Coverage for All campaign was established by Health Care for All New York to develop and push for proposals to provide health insurance to all immigrant New Yorkers, many of whom can have few public or private coverage options. We’re proud to be on its leadership team that is being led by the New York Immigration Coalition and Make the Road New York, and includes around 160 organizations. You can learn all about this campaign here.

About 1 million New Yorkers remain uninsured. Over 400,000 of them are immigrants who don’t qualify for public insurance programs or federal subsidies to purchase private coverage. Approximately 245,000 of them could become eligible for our Essential Plan if our state steps forward to do the right thing in this year’s budget. Other states like California and Illinois are already providing coverage to more immigrants, so it’s time for New York to join that esteemed club.