They lost in Congress last year, and now they’re turning to the federal courts!  (Sound familiar?)

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.

Finally, don’t forget to join us for our “Save Medicare’s Lower Drug Prices!” rally taking place next Wed. Aug. 16 at 12 noon outside the NYC office of the notorious right-wing and anti-union law firm, Jones Day. It’s located at 250 Vesey St. (at the Hudson River) in lower Manhattan, just west of the World Trade Center complex. Jones Day is the law firm for Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck for their Medicare lawsuits. Full details and resources about the rally are here.

NYC Rally to “SAVE MEDICARE’S LOWER DRUG PRICES!”

Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck are both suing Medicare to block its new Rx drug price negotiation program before it even gets started!

The notorious Jones Day is their law firm.

___________

Join New Yorkers to demand that BMS and Merck:

“Drop Your Lawsuit, Drop Your Prices!”

___________

Wed. Aug. 16 @ 12 noon

Outside the NYC office of Jones Day

250 Vesey Street (at Hudson River) in Lower Manhattan

RSVPs and more info:  https://bit.ly/Aug16NYCMedicareRally

Outreach & promotion materials to share:

• Online event page
• PDF flyer
• Facebook event
• Social media toolkit

What else to do:

• Organizations are asked to sign-on to this letter jointly addressed to the CEOs of the entities that are suing Medicare (Astellas, Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen, Merck, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Assoc., US Chamber of Commerce.)
• Individuals can sign this online petition also addressed to these CEOs.

Sponsors [list in formation]:

• ACT UP New York
• Be a Hero
• Center for Independence of the Disabled New York
• Center for Popular Democracy
• Citizen Action of New York
• Council of Municipal Retirees Organizations
• Cross-Union Retirees Organizing Committee
• Health Care for America Now
• Health GAP
• Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility
• Lower Drug Prices Now
• Make the Road New York
• Metro New York Health Care for All
• New Jersey Citizen Action
• New York Progressive Action Network
• New York Statewide Senior Action Council
• Northwest Bronx Indivisible
• Patients for Affordable Drugs
• People’s Action
• Public Citizen
• Physicians for a National Health Program, New York Metro Chapter
• Professional Staff Congress CUNY
• Rise and Resist
• 1199SEIU / GNYHA Healthcare Education Project
• 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
• Social Security Works
• Universities Allied for Essential Medicines

Additional group sponsor sign-on form here.

Note: Co-sponsorship means that a group agrees to promote this rally through its networks, and will work to have a contingent participate. Organizational banners are welcome!

Rally endorsers (for public officials and community leaders only) [list in formation] Endorsement form here

• Rep. Dan Goldman (NY-10)
• Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY-12)

We all believe in and support Medicare as the basis of a universal health care program here in the US. To bring that about, we know that we have to simultaneously defend it, improve it, and expand it.

Medicare is a bedrock of our nation’s health care system, and millions of New Yorkers and people across the US have benefited from it since it came into being over half a century ago. Like any public program, it has been improved and expanded over the years, while others have continuously been trying to scale it back or privatize it. We can never let down our vigilance!

Medicare’s anniversary is coming up soon (July 30^th). Here’s how you join the celebration!

Anniversary Street Party!  Various groups are gathering this coming Fri. July 28^th at 12 noon on the plaza outside the NYC offices of our two US Senators from NY, Sen. Charles Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, located in midtown Manhattan at 780 Third Ave. (at E. 48^th St.) Sponsoring groups include (in alphabetical order) Cross-Union Retirees Organizing Committee, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, Metro New York Health Care for All, New York Public Library Retirees Assoc., New York Statewide Senior Action Council, Physicians for a National Health Program – New York Metro Chapter, and Professional Staff Congress CUNY [list in formation.]

Defending Medicare’s new prescription drug price negotiation program: One of the most exciting new developments on Medicare’s horizon was created a year ago as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the face of fierce opposition from Big Pharma. Its opponents are not letting up, and (so far) six drug corporations and their business allies have filed lawsuits to nullify it, and their political shills in Congress are also filing bills to repeal the program.

This new Medicare program is being rolled over the next two years and go into effect starting in 2026. As the first step, this coming Sept. 1^st, Medicare will announce the first group of medicines that will be subject to the new price negotiation process. Public opinion research shows that the IRA’s prescription drug reforms are very popular with the public across the political spectrum – you can read more about that here.

Health care advocates and activists nationwide are launching a 6-week “Countdown to Lower Drug Costs” mini-campaign that is taking place over the upcoming congressional summer recess from late July to early Sept., from Medicare’s anniversary to the IRA’s anniversary (Aug. 16) to Labor Day Week. We’ll be celebrating this exciting accomplishment, letting people know what’s coming when under the IRA to lower drug costs for people on Medicare (there are various measures – some already underway), and calling out the bad actors who are doing all they can to protect Big Pharma’s rapacious price gouging and profiteering.

We’re working with our partners in the New York State Network of the national Health Care for America Now (HCAN) and Lower Drug Prices Now (LDPN) campaigns to plan some activities in the NYC area for the IRA’s anniversary on Wed. Aug. 16, so keep your eye out for more information once the basic details are confirmed.

As a curtain raiser to Aug. 16, we are joining with our HCAN and LDPN partners across the River in New Jersey for an event taking place later this week that is focusing on the lawsuits filed by drug corporations. Please contact us directly for more information on that so that you can participate if you are interested.

We thank everyone for all that you do to defend, improve, and expand Medicare as a cornerstone of our shared goal of health care for all New Yorkers and all across the US.

After a nearly one-year hiatus, the Campaign for New York Health is back! In the last three months, it has hired a new Executive Director, convened a strategic planning retreat for its leadership team (board and Steering Committee), held a fundraiser, and organized a press conference to announce reintroduction of the New York Health Act, its signature legislative goal.

The Campaign was founded nearly a decade ago to formally organize the variety of groups and individuals that have long supported this bill since its original introduction over three decades ago. It was initially based out of the New York State Nurses Association, and then spun off on its own several years ago. We are proud to serve on its leadership team since its launch.

The New York Health Act has undergone several iterations since it was first introduced in 1991 by then longtime Assembly Health Committee chair Richard Gottfried (Manhattan.) It would create a fully-public universal health insurance program for all New York residents with a comprehensive range of benefits, modeled on “Medicare-for-All” proposals in Congress. There would be no limited provider networks, or out-of-pocket costs such as premiums, deductibles, co-pays, or co-insurance that constantly hassle or outright prevent patients from getting coverage of the care they need.

The bill passed the State Assembly in 1992, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 by a significant majority. It has yet to get to the floor of the State Senate for debate and vote. Its current lead sponsors are the current health committee chairs in each chamber of the state legislature: Sen. Gustavo Rivera (Bronx) and Assemblymember Amy Paulin (Westchester.) The bill has a majority of co-sponsors in each chamber: 34 (out of 63) in the Senate, and 83 (out of 150) in the Assembly.

Former Long Island congressional candidate Melanie D’Arrigo took the helm of the Campaign back in the Spring as its new Executive Director. She is a graduate of Barnard College, and earned a master’s degree in health services and allied health professions from Long Island University. Prior to joining the Campaign, she co-founded Be the Rainbow, a non-profit organization that celebrates and promotes positive self-awareness of the LGBTQ+ community on Long Island.

Earlier this month, the Campaign held a press conference outside Harlem Hospital to announce the reintroduction of the NY Health Act for the 2023-4 legislative session. Lead sponsors Sen. Rivera and AM Paulin were joined there by several legislative colleagues, leaders of health professional organizations and unions, and community health activists. The bill remains one of the most popular among a broad range of health advocates and health care unions.

It is with much sadness that we share news of the recent passing of Pat Fry, former Political Director of the Committee of Interns and Residents SEIU (CIR), and a longtime volunteer with our coalition after she retired about a decade ago. She died after a long illness while in home hospice care, surrounded by her family and close friends in Traverse City, Michigan. Plans are in development for public memorial events in the early Fall in her hometown of Detroit and in New York City where Pat lived and worked. You can read a brief obituary about Pat here.

Pat was an ardent trade union and social justice activist who worked tirelessly with us in the struggle for universal health care here in New York and across the United States. Our world is a better place because of her life and work, and we are now the lesser with her passing.

In memory of Pat and carrying forward her passion and spirit, we are proud to announce our new “Pat Fry Health Care Justice Memorial Fund”, to receive donations from friends, family, and colleagues upon her death, at Pat’s request. We are honored and humbled to be chosen in this way.

People can honor Pat’s wishes and donate to this new fund here, and we thank you for your contributions.

Contributions to the fund will be used to support our ongoing work that centers on health care issues in Congress, and in particular our role in leading the Health Care for America Now (HCAN) and it’s sister campaign Lower Drug Prices Now in New York, as we have for nearly 15 years now. HCAN is the national multi-constituency campaign that pushed comprehensive health care reform through Congress in 2009-10 which resulted in what we now know as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Since then, HCAN has led efforts to implement the law, defend it against numerous repeal attempts, and improve and expand its provisions to benefit more people over time. Millions of people across the US have benefited from this landmark and historic piece of social legislation, and Pat played an important role in making that happen.

During her tenure with CIR, Pat was instrumental in guiding and rallying the physician and health care union community behind the campaign for health care reforms, both nationally and locally. During the 15-month legislative campaign for the ACA, she and her CIR colleagues Tim Foley and Anne Mitchell provided crucial in-kind support to our NYC Organizing Committee for HCAN, and the congressional fight was a grueling up-and-down struggle from start to finish. In the end, 12 of 13 members of Congress from NYC voted for the bill, and it only passed by a handful of votes overall. Pat deserves a good part of the credit for that outcome.

Once she retired, Pat volunteered with us to help out with all kinds of tasks, in particular with outreach to unions for our various campaigns that focus on state and federal health care issues.  

We mourn Pat’s passing, will miss her savvy strategic thinking, and recommit ourselves in her spirit to the fight for health care justice and universal health care. We also celebrate her extraordinary life and work. Pat Fry, presente!  Rest in power.

The Coverage for All bill (S.2237A/A.3020A, Rivera/Gonzelz-Rojas) is suddenly THIS CLOSE to passing the Legislature!

The Senate will be voting on it tonight (Thurs. eve.)  All that needs to happen next is for Assembly leaders to schedule a floor vote ASAP where we know it too will pass. Time is of the essence, since the Legislature will end their 2023 session by Saturday evening.

(Reminder: “Coverage for All” will open up New York’s very successful “Essential Plan” to all lower-income residents regardless of immigration documentation status, and it will be entirely paid for with federal funds.)

Earlier this week, legislative leaders received a letter from the federal government saying that New York can indeed ask for “Section 1332 pass-through funds” (refers to a provision of the Affordable Care Act) to pay for a Coverage for All program, and that similar permission has already been granted to some other states.

Now there is no excuse not to do it, and delay things any further!

What YOU can do …to get things over the finish line in the Assembly:

• Reach out to your own Assemblymember to ask that they ask Speaker Heastie to schedule a floor vote on the Coverage for All bill (A.3020, Gonzalez-Rojas) before the Legislature adjourns on Saturday.
• Use this digital toolkit to contact and tag Assemblymembers, and to create social media buzz more broadly.
• Ask friends, family, and colleagues to do the same!

Thanks much for helping to make Coverage for All happen! It will put New York in the forefront of states extending public health insurance coverage to all residents, including all immigrants.

We in the universal health care movement have long understood that grassroots democracy is essential to our success. We won’t achieve our “health care for all” goal without it. That’s why we have long supported election campaign finance reforms that rebalance and counter the inordinate power of special interests and large donors by supporting and growing grassroots power in both our legislative and electoral processes.

Three years ago, New York State created a landmark public campaign finance program for candidates for public office. It is going into effect now for the 2023-4 election cycle, and incumbents and challengers are already enrolling in this new program. It is modeled on New York City’s very successful program that has been in operation for two decades.  

Both the State and City systems provide significant matching funds for small donations up to $250 from local residents and constituents, so that grassroots candidates can run for office without being reliant on outside big donors and political party bosses. These programs fundamentally shift the balance of power in elections by changing the financial rules of the game. They provide public funding to candidates who can demonstrate significant grassroots support from their own voters. It makes our democracy much better.

What just happened:

A new bill has suddenly been introduced in the NYS Legislature in the literal final days of this year’s state legislative session that will significantly weaken New York’s new public campaign finance program and violate the spirit of its intent. This bill is likely to move forward to passage by the end of this week, completely skipping any normal legislative process of passing through committees, etc. This new bill will make it more difficult for new candidates to challenge incumbents, and will allow candidates to receive matching funds for the first $250 of any larger donations (up to the legal limit of $18,000 per person.)

What YOU can do:

Those of us who believe in grassroots democracy need to immediately contact our State Senators and Legislators to voice our objections to these changes — small donor matching funds should only be for small donations! We also need to object to this new bill coming forward now out of a backroom deal during the final days of the legislative session, with no time for public awareness or debate or regular legislative process.

Fair Elections for New York has created a special digital toolkit for people to use to contact a targeted list of state legislators and ask them to vote against weakening the existing law, so that this new bill doesn’t sail through without any objections. To be clear, all expectations are that this new bill will pass. But for now, we need to get a cadre of courageous legislators in each chamber to stand up for strong grassroots democracy, to set the stage for what comes next with the roll-out of this new system.

Remember, the fight for good democracy is part-and-parcel of our fight for universal health care.

Thanks for jumping into this fight over the next few days.

We’re coming down to the wire, and YOU can help out!  This year’s New York State legislative session wraps-up by the end of this week.  We’ve got a few things that can hopefully get across the finish line with a bit of a push from everyone – only 3+ days to go!

Here’s what’s still in play on important health care issues, and how you can help move things along– remember, the squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Coverage for All (S.2237/A.3020, Rivera/Gonzalez-Rojas) – This bill will open up New York’s very successful Essential Plan to all low-income New Yorkers and families regardless of immigration status issues. Federal funding is likely available for it through a Section 1332 waiver (refers to a provision of the Affordable Care Act) – all we have to do is ask about it. Here’s a good explainer on this bill.

• State of Play: Health care and immigrant rights advocates pushed hard to get this idea included in the final state budget agreement earlier this Spring. The Legislature was fully in support and fought for its inclusion, but Governor Hochul wanted rock-solid assurance first that the federal government would cover the cost before she would commit to the idea. She has since written to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for clarification, as have both the Health Committee chairs from the State Senate and Assembly, and all are now waiting for replies. In the meantime, the Legislature can enact authorizing legislation now so that all is ready to move ahead once a favorable response is received – no need to wait until next year!
• What YOU can do: Contact YOUR own State Senator and Assemblymember to urge this program be authorized before the end of session. You can also use this digital toolkit to engage lawmakers, and to help others understand why this important step is needed.

End Medical Debt – There are two bills under this category:

• The Ounce of Prevention Act (S.13666a/A.6027a, Rivera/Paulin) will streamline and update the State’s hospital financing assistance program’s standards so that more people can easily qualify and for greater financial support. The Attorney General’s office has suddenly stepped forward with support and is putting forward for some improvements, so this bill is now being set aside until next year’s session. In the meantime, advocates have also begun discussions with hospital industry leaders to attempt to forge a shared bill that all stakeholders can support. All is hopeful but will be delayed.
• The Fair Medical Debt Reporting Act (S.4907a/A.6275a, Rivera/Paulin) will prohibit health care providers and collection agencies from reporting outstanding medical debt to credit agencies. It has passed the Senate, and is poised to go the Assembly floor for debate and vote – if so, it will likely pass. Leadership just has to schedule it. Contact YOUR own Assemblymember to ask them to have Speaker Heastie move this bill to the floor. If you like, here is a handy click-to-email tool you can use.

Regulating Hospital Closures – The Local Input for Community Healthcare Act (S.2085/A.1366, Kavanaugh/Simon) will set up a formal system for State oversight of hospital closures as industry consolidation continues into building ever-larger hospital networks. Right now, there isn’t much of a meaningful role for State officials, and what exists is very weak and haphazard. Local communities deserve better! Here is a summary of this bill from Community Voices for Health System Accountability, a statewide project we help to lead.

• State of Play: This bill passed the Assembly last week, and is poised to go to the Senate floor IF a debate and vote gets scheduled by leadership. Last year, at this same time this bill also passed the Assembly, but the clock ran out in the Senate before it could be voted on – we don’t want that to happen again this year!
• What YOU can do: Contact YOUR own State Senator to ask them to have Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins move this bill to the floor before adjournment. Organizations can also use this “Memo of Support” template and send it to Senator Kavanaugh’s lead staff for this bill (Anthony Macerola, amacerola.nysenate@gmail.com)

Thanks much for all your help to get these bills over the finish line in the next 3 days!

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.

Why this campaign:

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.

Thanks for joining in this quick-yet-important campaign, and be sure to let others know about it!

The moment for us to act quickly and loudly has arrived. It’s time for us to raise an immediate ruckus with members of our city and region’s congressional delegation who belong to the House Republican Majority:

• Long Island – Nick LaLota (NY-1), Andrew Garbarino (NY-2), George Santos (NY-3), Anthony D’Esposito (NY-4)
• NYC – George Santos (NY-3), Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11)
• Hudson Valley – Mike Lawler (NY-17)

Last week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unveiled his draconian “Limit, Save, Grow Act” to address impending federal debt default that is anticipated to occur sometime in June or July. He wants to pass his bill this week.

Here’s what his bill will do:

• Lift federal debt limits only until March 31, 2024 or by $1.5 trillion (whichever comes first.)
• Slash federal spending back to FY 2022 levels (thereby negating last December’s FY 2023 bipartisan budget deal), and then cap the annual growth rate for discretionary programs (that are subject to the annual appropriations process) at 1% per year for the next decade (through FY 2033.)  Defense and VA spending would be exempted.
• This combination of slash-cap-exempt would cause a whopping 59% cut in spending for everything else over the decade.  The affected programs would cover everything except “mandatory programs”, such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP (formerly, Food Stamps), TANF (welfare.)  (However, funding for the agencies that administer these programs would be cut.)
• Add work requirements for Medicaid, SNAP, and TANF, just to just throw people off these programs.
• Take back still-being-spent pandemic funds provided to states.
• Cancel student loan forgiveness programs.
• Cancel new funding for the IRS to audit wealthy tax cheats.
• Curtail the federal government’s ability to regulate many industries.
• Repeal green energy tax credits and subsidies offered under the new Inflation Reduction Act law.
• Ignore what causes climate change and boost domestic fossil fuel development and use instead.

Bad bonuses: This bill would also be combined with other legislative promises to:

• Continue the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy in perpetuity. That would add over $3 trillion more to the federal debt over the next decade, thereby wiping out any alleged savings from McCarthy’s bill.
• Repeal the Medicare Rx drug price negotiation provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, costing a loss of another $316 billion in savings from under that law.

Speaker McCarthy wants the House to vote on his bill before the end of this week IF he can summon up enough votes from his colleagues. Our job RIGHT NOW is to stop that from happening – we must prevent him from getting the votes he needs by causing a public uproar. If we succeed, we will dramatically weaken him and his majority in trying to do similar things in the future.

What to do NOW:

• Inform your networks about this bill and the fast timeline to try to pass it.
• Mobilize your networks to bombard the Capitol Hill and local district offices of these members of Congress (see list above) with messages to reject Speaker McCarthy’s debt default bill. Contact them by phone (Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121) and on social media platforms to express your opinion.
• Use the webpages of these Reps. on the House website to write them an email and find out their local phone numbers.

Thanks much for stepping up to the plate right away at the crucial moment!

PS — Want more detail and background? Check out this analysis from our friends at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.