FEBRUARY 2022 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 17
WASHINGTON MUST ACT
PROTECT AFFORDABLE CARE
BY LISA TYSON
DIRECTOR OF THE LONG
ISLAND PROGRESSIVE
COALITION
We’re about to lose one of the most signifi
cant advances in healthcare made
over the last decade unless Congress
takes immediate action. That’s why I’m
calling on U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and
U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi to step up and protect
life-saving health coverage subsidies
for New Yorkers.
These expanded subsidies help families
aff ord the cost of health coverage. By
driving down costs, this relief ensures
that Americans across the country don’t
lose their access to care. While this program
has been an essential component
of our response to the Covid-19 epidemic,
the impact of these benefi ts has been
far greater.
If made permanent, marketplace health
insurance subsidies could cut the number
of uninsured by 12 million nationwide
next year, according to the Urban
Institute. In New York alone, it would
ensure that 163,000 people would have
access to the benefi ts of health coverage
who otherwise would not be covered.
This could cut the number of uninsured
by nearly 15 percent statewide.
These expanded tax credits must be
made permanent in this year’s fi nal budget
reconciliation package. As we continue
to confront the worst public health
crisis in more than a century, these subsidies
ensure that every community in
our state can access basic care and take
part in our ongoing recovery.
Despite the impact of this relief, these
subsidies will disappear if Congress
doesn’t act soon. If the subsidies expire,
the eff ects on working- and middle-class
families could be devastating. A new
study by the Kaiser Family Foundation
found that premiums could double for
“These subsidies
will disappear if
Congress doesnt
the millions of Americans who buy their
coverage on the marketplace. Another
study by the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) found that premiums
could rise by as much as $600.
I’ve seen our community go through
decades of debate over how best to expand
access to health care. While this
conversation must continue, we cannot
aff ord to lose a program that is providing
coverage to so many right now.
New York has always been at the forefront
of eff orts to protect the health
and well-being of working families. As
a state senator, Teddy Roosevelt made
the call to protect against “the hazards
of sickness” to his cousin Franklin Roosevelt,
who created the Social Security
program; since then, our state’s leaders
have fought to make sure that working
people can live and age with dignity. In
more recent times, our leaders in Congress
fought to pass and then defend the
Aff ordable Care Act.
All these eff orts have improved the lives
of countless families across our state and
around the country. Now is the chance to
build on that legacy by protecting these
life-saving subsidies before they expire.
These expanded marketplace subsidies
must be made permanent now.
POINT OF VIEW
PO Box 610257, Bayside, NY 11361
718-260-2564
act soon.”
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