The New York State Assembly passed the New York Health Act last week. It’s the latest version of a single-payer health plan designed to cover all New York residents, which has been introduced in the legislature for over a decade. The advocacy group Finger Lakes for New York Health is holding a series of information sessions in support of the act, which is sometimes referred to as a “Medicare-For-All” bill. Carolyn Kenyon is with Finger Lakes for New York Health.
“It will establish a health care system in New York similar to an expanded and improved Medicare. That’s why we keep comparing it to Medicare. All New Yorkers would have access to health care the way everyone has access now to fire departments and libraries and schools. It’s not new. It’s not some plan that’s untried because it is like Medicare. It’s also like the health care plan in Ontario, Canada.”
Kenyon says that efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act have increased interest in the New York Health Act. Finger Lakes for New York Health is focusing their efforts in support of the act in the state’s 54th District.
“We are focused on this 54th Senate District because we have a new senator for the district and that is Pamela Helming from Canandaigua. She has not taken a stand yet on the bill. She needs to hear from constituents, her constituents, if they are supporting the bill.”
Governor Cuomo has not yet indicated where he stands on the New York Health Act. The act is currently in the Senate’s Health Care Committee. Finger Lakes for New York Health holds an information session Thursday night from 7 to 9 at the Geneva Community Center on Carter Road.
