NYLPI - New York Lawyers for the Public Interest Inc.

09/25/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/25/2024 09:36

Coverage for All Coalition Reacts to Gov. Hochul’s Announcement of $10 Billion Federal Funding to Provide Affordable Health Insurance

Coverage for All Coalition Reacts to Gov. Hochul's Announcement of $10 Billion Federal Funding to Provide Affordable Health Insurance

September 25, 2024

Coverage4All, Disability Justice, Health Justice, Immigrant Justice, Media Coverage, News, Transplant Equity, UndocuCare, UndocuCare TGNCI+

NEW YORK (September 25, 2024) - Recently, Governor Hochul announced that New York State received a final commitment of $10 billion from the federal government through the Federal 1332 State Innovation Waiver to expand the Essential Plan, which will be able to provide affordable health insurance to approximately 1.5 million New Yorkers.

In response, the Coverage for All Coalition stated:

"This additional funding of $10 billion can help provide additional resources so that more people can get the help they deserve without exorbitant medical debt. However, many vulnerable low-income New Yorkers remain excluded from accessing health insurance and thus better health outcomes because of their immigration status. There is more than enough money available through the waiver to ensure that undocumented immigrants are included. Coverage for All has the potential to bring transformative changes to our communities and save the lives of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.

"We urge Governor Hochul to fulfill her prior commitment of working with the federal government to amend the 1332 waiver in order to expand health care access to immigrant New Yorkers in the 1332 federal waiver and demonstrate her full support to pass the Coverage for All bill. Health care is a fundamental human right and every New Yorker deserves to access health insurance coverage."

State Senator Gustavo Rivera, said, "This $10 billion commitment is an important step forward in ensuring that more New Yorkers have access to affordable health insurance, but it doesn't go far enough. Too many vulnerable, low-income New Yorkers are still being left behind, especially our undocumented immigrant communities.

"I urge Governor Hochul to honor her previous commitment and work with the federal government to amend the 1332 waiver so that we can extend health coverage to all New Yorkers, regardless of their immigration status. The Coverage for All bill is designed to ensure that no one in our state is left out of the healthcare system and that our state saves money by covering everyone. Health care is a human right, and it's time we treated it as such for every single person in our state."

State Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, said, "It's exciting to know that the federal government is investing $10 billion in New York for us to expand healthcare coverage to New Yorkers. This amount is even higher than the projected $9 billion and as the nation's largest State Innovation Waiver award to date, it should provide us with a mandate to provide healthcare to our most vulnerable, which includes undocumented New Yorkers. We cannot wait to see what happens in Washington DC. We have New Yorkers who have contributed to our economy and who are being left behind because of a refusal to expand healthcare to these communities. Maryland has now submitted a 1332 waiver to provide healthcare to undocumented residents. It is time that we live up to the promise of our Statue of Liberty, take care of New Yorkers, and provide Coverage for All."

Moreover, two months ago, Maryland submitted a request to amend the 1332 Waiver to expand coverage to immigrants that are currently excluded. This follows other states including Nevada, Washington, and Colorado applications to include immigrants in the waiver request.

NYLPI is a steering committee member of #Coverage4All.