To help you better understand the health care provisions in New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed State fiscal year 2024-25 Executive budget—and GNYHA’s positions on those provisions—we have developed the attached table. We will expand it when the Assembly and Senate release their respective one-house budgets in March.
Regardless of these provisions, the fundamental and crucial flaw in the Governor’s budget is that it does not include the compelling and extremely reasonable goals of the GNYHA-1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East Healthcare Education Project. Those goals are to 1) persuade Albany to increase New York’s Medicaid reimbursement rate for hospitals to 100% of cost and 2) strive for health care justice for all New Yorkers by reducing health care disparities and improving health outcomes for low-income, predominantly Black and Brown communities.
The written budget testimony I shared with you on Monday laid out a clear roadmap of this State budget problem and what needs to be done to address it. In my oral presentation on Tuesday before the Assembly Ways and Means, Assembly Health, Senate Finance, and Senate Health Committees, I summarized this pathway and in the passion of the moment I used less than artful language.
GNYHA and 1199SEIU are intensifying our campaign in the court of public opinion and seeking broad-based and legislative support for our goals. We are engaging in many activities, including but not limited to a rally of support from faith leaders next week, community meetings, asking legislators to sign onto a memo in support of our goals, and a comprehensive media campaign (broadcast, radio, digital, and social). On the media front, a new television ad began running yesterday.
I urge all GNYHA members to educate elected officials and community members about the campaign.