by Amy Fleming
Who started the rumor that there isn’t any money to continue Medicaid at its current level? I heard the governor is claiming a $6 Billion dollar budget deficit and blaming Medicaid for $4 Billion of it. Unfortunately, he has a habit of naming sham commissions that come up with questionable “facts” to justify his actions to cut Medicaid and to pass down increases to local counties. He also has named do-nothing commissions and then says he’s “taken care of it”, End of Story.
We must stand up Say NO to commissions and No to Medicaid cuts and call on the legislature and the governor to do their jobs – they should discuss any proposals in an open session and stop hiding behind these Scam Commissions to do their dirty work.
Rachel Nuzum, a Medicaid expert with the Commonwealth Fund, a think tank that supports public health care options, says Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act is making Americans a lot healthier. You would think our governor would try to keep up the good work. New York has a known reputation for taking care of the health of its people. Let’s not start down the wrong path now.
So we shall start a new ‘rumor’. New York State has the money, It just happens to be in the wrong pockets. There is a list of not one or two but FOURTEEN tax-the-rich revenue proposals for 2020 available beginning with the Billionaire Wealth Tax and ending with the Stock Transfer Tax that could easily cover the gap. Check out the website: https://makebillionairespay.info/clinchers-reports-factsheets
The good news is the governor has been known to change course if there is a groundswell of action at the grass roots level. It’s a pretty high percentage so we need as many New Yorkers as possible to demand he implement maybe just a couple of these taxes on the uber-rich and corporations so monies stay in our health care system.
Instead of wishing, hoping and dreaming about supporting our basic human right of health care, let’s get it done. You can contact Governor Cuomo at www.governor.ny.gov or call at 518-474-8390.
Learn more about working for Health Care for All NY by visiting www.hcfany.org.