➤ LGBTQ HEALTH, from p.6 ➤ STATE FAIR HATE, from p.6
sonalized, coordinated, culturally
competent healthcare.”
The legislation would complement
a separate healthcare initiative
led by Mayor Bill de Blasio
known as NYC Care, which is
aimed at connecting hundreds of
thousands of the city’s uninsured
residents to healthcare options.
A City Council spokesperson
noted that some of the costs for
the program could be pulled from
the $100 million already allocated
for the mayor’s healthcare initiative.
The spokesperson also said
the city could shell out as much as
$100 million in grants to community
providers if 300,000 people
participate in the City Council’s
program.
The Council views the program
as one that would lessen the strain
on city hospitals and reduce emergency
room visits by prioritizing
preventative care, especially in
uninsured communities.
“An effective modern medical
system starts with easy patient
access to primary care,” said Rivera,
the chair of the Committee
on Hospitals, who echoed the
concerns that “far too many” New
Yorkers end up resorting to emergency
room visits for medical conditions
due to lack of insurance.
She added that the bill would
“guarantee that primary care is
an option for every New Yorker in
every neighborhood, at a public
hospital or at a community-based
clinic.”
Levine, who is the chair of the
City Council’s Health Committee,
believes the program could provide
a boost to the entire city, saying
that the healthcare woes facing
uninsured and underinsured
folks present “dire consequences
for their own health and for our
city as a whole.”
“We need a primary care program
for the uninsured that
reaches into every neighborhood
in every borough,” Levine, the
City Council’s Health Committee
Chair, said in a written statement.
“And we need to tap the resources
not just of our public hospitals but
the community-based clinics that
are rooted in the very immigrant
communities we are seeking to
reach.”
ties was met with comments tying
LGBTQ people to pedophilia
and questions about why straight
Pride wasn’t celebrated.
Facebook user Joshua Smith
wrote, “Wait until they tack on
that ‘P’ at the end for pedophiles.
Because it’s already in the works.
But ‘Love is Love right?’” Another
user, Robert D. Elmer, Jr.,
stated that Pride Flags cannot be
fl own for freedom because “the
only one fl ag we all love” and are
“very proud of” is “red, white, and
blue!!!” Meanwhile, Janice Zimmer
wrote, “What are the colors
for ‘straight pride day’?”
Homophobes were just as livid
earlier in the summer when the
State Fair’s Facebook page was
updated to refl ect a Rainbowthemed
logo. That prompted the
usual complaints, including comparisons
of the Rainbow Flag and
the American Flag, but the State
Fair opted to respond to criticism
by explaining the roots of Pride at
the State Fair, which was the fi rst
in any state to establish a Pride
Day.
State Fair offi cials recalled
that the local LGBTQ community
hosted an unoffi cial Pride Day at
the fair for many years prior to the
fi rst offi cial event four years ago.
Fair organizers decided to move
ahead with an offi cial Pride event
in response to requests from LGBTQ
organizations.
Despite the barrage of anti-LGBTQ
comments, there was still a
mix of comments welcoming Pride
festivities to the State Fair. One
Facebook user, Kaleigh Watkins,
offered a rather straight-up response
to the haters.
“Wow, imagine what it must be
like to have your masculinity so
threatened by a rainbow logo that
you feel the need to fi ght about it
& resort to name calling on a Facebook
comment thread,” Watkins
wrote. “Wild.”
Then, Facebook user Roshan
Ali came through with a special
request for the homophobes who
plan on attending the State Fair
next year.
“Can all of you bigots just pick
a day when you’re going to boycott
the state fair? I will go on this day
so there’s less traffi c,” he wrote.
New Yorkers Need Relief from Rx Greed ADVERTORIAL
������������������������������
There’s not a lot Congress
agrees on these
days, but the need to reduce
soaring prescription
drug prices is one
imperative representatives
of both parties support.
And for good reason;
Americans pay the highest
brand name drug
prices in the world.
So when Congress returns
from its August recess,
it’s time for action.
As part of its nationwide
#StopRxGreed campaign,
AARP is advocating
to:
���� ������������ ������������������ ������
negotiate lower drug
prices – as the Veterans
Administration already
does, at substantial savings,
and as a recent national
poll shows voters
50 and older of all stripes
support (95% of independents,
93% of Republicans
and 90% of Democrats),
������������������������������������������
of pocket prescription
������������ ������ ������������������ ����������
D,
������������������������������������������-
creases to no more than
inflation.
���� ������������ ���������� ����������-
sive generics to market,
by among other things
banning so-called “pay
to delay” deals in which
drug makers actually
pay generic manufacturers
to keep their cheaper
version of drugs off the
shelves – for 17 months
on average.
Big Pharma has
raised drug prices more
than inflation every year
for decades, and prescriptions
are getting
harder and harder to afford.
The average annual
cost of brand name prescription
drug treatment
grew more than five
times the average annual
New Yorker’s income between
2012 and 2017 - 58%
vs. 11.5%. And it hasn’t
let up; the average drug
price increased 10.5% in
the first six months of
2019 - five times the rate
of inflation.
Insulin is a prime example.
The cost of the drug
on which people with diabetes
rely nearly tripled
from 2002 to 2013. And it’s
not like insulin is new;
it was invented almost a
century ago. The problem:
drug companies make
small changes so they can
extend their patent protections
and manipulate the
system.
Some patients desperate
for insulin go to Canada
– where prescription
drugs are much cheaper -
while others actually risk
their lives by rationing or
skipping doses.
Your prescriptions
won’t work if you can’t afford
them.
We’re all affected by
skyrocketing drug prices,
through higher insurance
premiums and the taxes we
�������� ������ ���������������� ������������������
�������� �������������������� �������� ������������-
ment health care programs
for older and poor/disabled
Americans.
Older Americans are
���������������������� �������������������� ��������-
care Part D enrollees take
an average of 4.5 prescriptions
per month and struggle
to pay for them on a median
annual income of just
$26,000.
A 2019 national AARP
survey of voters age 50 and
older found nearly 40%
did not fill a prescription,
mainly because of cost.
Congress needs to
stand up to the pharmaceutical
industry, which is
fighting tooth and nail to
���������������� �������� ���������������� ��������������
������������ �������� �������� ������������ ����-
cently sued the Trump administration
to keep the
list prices of their drugs
secret. The industry is
spending record amounts
on Washington lobbyists
and running ads claiming
more affordable drugs
would actually harm consumers.
States can act too. So
far this year, 29 states have
passed 47 new laws aimed
at lowering prescription
drug costs, according to
the National Academy for
State Health Policy. New
York could – and should -
��������������������������������������������������������-
islature passed a bill to
prohibit out-of-pocket prescription
cost increases
on health plan enrollees
in the middle of a contract
year, and AARP is urging
Governor Andrew Cuomo
to sign the bill when it
reaches his desk.
In Washington, fighting
high drug prices has engendered
rare, bipartisan
agreement that something
should be done. New York’s
congressional delegation is
in a position to lead on this
issue and make a difference.
Now is the time.
– Chris Widelo is
AARP’s Associate State Director
for New York City
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