As New Yorkers ponder who to vote for on Election Day and why, our “Vote for Health Care!” campaign is organizing health care advocates and activists to reach out to the public about “what’s at stake” for health care in this fall’s elections (Hint: A Lot!)
Our next Congress and State Legislature and Governor will set the course for health care for all Americans and New Yorkers. On a national level, Congress will determine the future of Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance, the Affordable Care Act, pre-existing condition protections, reproductive rights, drug prices, the VA health system, Social Security, SNAP/Food Stamps, and a whole slew of other health care and related social programs. They will also decide whether or not all these programs will properly funding by making large corporations and wealthy people pay their fair share of taxes.
On a state level, while New York is very much a “leader state” on health care, we will need to protect our existing health care programs from moves by the Trump administration to undermine them and our insurance markets. In addition, there may be new opportunities to move forward toward a universal health care program as embodied in the New York Health Act or other approaches.
Health care is a red-hot issue for the public (and getting hotter by the day), and our “Vote for Health Care!” campaign’s goal is to leverage that concern to motivate people to show up to the polls on November 6 to support candidates who will champion health care issues in our next Congress and State Legislature. Our campaign is non-partisan and neither supportive of nor opposed to any particular candidate or political party. Its aim is to help voters understand the claims and counterclaims and candidates’ positions so that they can vote intelligently when it comes to health care.
Our campaign’s major elements are distributing leaflets about the key health care issues in public settings and at candidate and community events, convening meetings and town halls on these issues, public speaking at meetings and events organized by other groups and unions, and posting relevant new stories and commentary on social media platforms. (We urge everyone to like and follow our Facebook page for all the up-to-date developments!)
While our campaign aims to help all New Yorkers understand health care issues at stake in all races, given our limited resources, much of its work centers on New York’s 11th Congressional District, the only one in NYC that is in serious contention this fall. The district comprises all of Staten Island and parts of southwest Brooklyn (Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, and Gravesend.)
The district’s current Representative (Dan Donovan) is the only member of the current House Majority from NYC. Last year, he voted against the American Health Care Act which would have repealed the Affordable Care Act, radically cut and changed Medicaid, and defunded family planning services provided by Planned Parenthood. He also voted against last year’s Tax Cut and Jobs Act that gave huge tax cuts to large corporations and wealthy individuals/families, and meager cuts to everybody else, and against a bill last month to make all of those tax cuts permanent. Unfortunately, he has not been very supportive of comprehensive reproductive health care rights, according to women’s health advocates. He is being challenged by Max Rose, a former military veteran and executive with Bright Point Health, a network of community health centers here in NYC that specialize in addiction treatment.
How YOU can join in and support “Vote for Health Care!”
- Help us leaflet commuters at the Staten Island Ferry terminal in lower Manhattan (adjacent to Battery Park.) We’re there on selected evenings from 4:30-6:30 p.m., including Thurs. Oct. 4, Wed. Oct. 10, Thurs. Oct. 11, Thurs. Oct. 18, Wed. Oct. 24, Thurs. Oct. 25, Thurs. Nov. 1, and Mon. Nov. 5. Let us know when you can participate by RSVPing on our Facebook page, or using the links on our Action Alerts page of this website.
- Attend a special “Community Town Hall: What’s at Stake for Health Care in This Fall’s Elections”. It’s taking place on Monday evening, October 29 at Nation Builders/Edificiadores de Naciones church on the North Shore area of Staten Island, in the West New Brighton neighborhood, at 947 Castleton Avenue. The formal event is from 7 to 9 p.m., with an informal reception beforehand starting at 6:15 p.m.
- Make a financial contribution to support our campaign – just use the donate button here on our website.