#EndMedicalDebt Campaign

 

Health care is a human right—yet the U.S. healthcare system doesn't treat it that way.

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One of the consequences of our profit-driven system is that many people go into debt and face financial devastation because they needed medical care. From 2015 to 2020, over 53,000 New Yorkers were sued by hospitals—all of which are non-profit charities. Thousands of New Yorkers have had property liens placed on their homes or had their wages garnished because of medical debt and six percent of New Yorkers have been put into collections over medical bills; and those numbers are double and even quadruple for people of color in parts of the state.

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New Yorkers have had enough. In 2022, in response to pressure from the End Medical Debt Campaign, the New York State Legislature passed two bills to help lift the burden of medical debt, including ending the practice of garnishing wages or placing home liens due to medical debt. This year, the End Medical Debt Campaign is calling on them to pass another critical bill: the "Ounce of Prevention Law." This legislation will help to prevent medical debt by making hospital financial assistance more accessible and ensuring that money allocated to hospitals for charity care is used for that purpose.

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Campaign for New York Health

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The New York Health Act [A6058 / S5474] will provide comprehensive health coverage for every resident or full-time worker in New York. You and your healthcare providers work to keep you healthy -- New York Health pays the bill. 

 

Under the New York Health Act, New Yorkers would benefit from the following:

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• Comprehensive Coverage
   

• Freedom to Choose
   

• Fair Funding
   

• Equality of Care
   

• Decreased Administrative Costs

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For all these reasons, support for the New York Health Act is growing. The NY Health Act was reintroduced in 2021 and 2022 with majority support in both the Assembly and Senate! The NY Health Act passed the Assembly four years in a row (2015-2018). We desperately need a healthcare system that will reverse decades of inequality through progressive funding; end the horrors of delaying needed care due to medical costs; and relegate medical-related bankruptcy to a footnote in history books. With your help, we can make healthcare a guaranteed right for all New Yorkers!

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Learn more about the Campaign for New York Health here.