Community Coalition kick-off event in Governor’s hometown adds to growing chorus of hospitals, health care workers, legislators, community, and faith leaders demanding fully funded Medicaid Health Insurance Program
A portion of New York’s huge, unprecedented reserves must be used to close the Medicaid Health Insurance funding gap, save struggling hospitals and nursing homes, prevent slashing of maternity and mental health services, and protect low-income seniors, children, families and people with disabilities
Buffalo, New York – Today, Erie and Niagara County State legislators held a press conference with a coalition of healthcare unions, community organizations, faith leaders, and hospital and nursing home leaders to demand that Governor Kathy Hochul address New York’s dire healthcare funding crisis by fully funding Medicaid Health Insurance reimbursements for hospitals and nursing homes.
City and County officials from Erie and Niagara County attended today’s press conference alongside State Senate and Assemblymembers including New York State Assemblymember and Majority Leader Crystal People’s Stokes who later said: “Today, Western New Yorkers from all different walks of life came together with a clear call to action for reducing health disparities. Only by properly funding WNY hospitals and nursing homes can we begin to address a crisis that plagues communities of color. We must act now to keep our hospitals and nursing homes open and operational. We cannot afford to fall further behind,” said People-Stokes.
In Erie County, nearly a third of residents rely on Medicaid for their healthcare. Even though Medicaid provides vital health insurance coverage to these New Yorkers, the state pays hospitals 30% less than the actual cost of care hospitals provide. Without sufficient funding, many hospitals, such as Eastern Niagara Hospital, cannot invest in programs or infrastructure that benefit the patients and communities they serve. In the Buffalo region in particular hospitals and nursing homes continue to face overcrowding and bed shortages due to the persistent underfunding of Medicaid.
“Millions of our fellow New Yorkers depend on Medicaid for their healthcare, including seniors, people with disabilities and children right here in Western New York,” said New York State Senator Patrick M. Gallivan. “As a state, we need to ensure Medicaid reimbursement rates cover the actual cost of care. The alternative is devastating cuts to services and programs, including hospitals and nursing homes right here in Erie County. It’s time to fix Medicaid underpayments now,” said Senator Gallivan.
“Our healthcare workers pour their hearts into their work, whether they’re giving world-class care to our seniors in a nursing home, or saving the life of a trauma patient in the hospital, or ensuring that our medical facilities run smoothly and efficiently – they give it their all every single day,” said Senator Tim Kennedy. “It’s time New York does the same for them. We need to close the Medicaid Health Insurance funding gap in order to ensure all New Yorkers have access to quality, comprehensive care long-term,” said Senator Kennedy.
“I am in the community every day and I witness first-hand the pain this severe healthcare crisis is causing for low-income children, people with disabilities, and seniors,” said Rev. Mark Blue, pastor of Second Baptist Church of Lackawanna and the president of the NAACP’s Buffalo chapter. “It’s unacceptable that New York State’s Medicaid program pays hospitals and doctors 30 percent less than the cost of care they provide to Western New Yorkers. It is time to fully fund Medicaid and ensure our most vulnerable populations receive the healthcare they need and deserve,” said Blue.
New York State’s chronic underfunding of Medicaid contributes to poor health outcomes largely in the Black and Latino communities, particularly affecting low-income seniors, expectant mothers, young children from low-income families, and people with disabilities. Some 43% of children in the city of Buffalo live in poverty, many of whom rely on Medicaid health insurance for their care.
“Our hospitals are in crisis in Western New York because the State does not provide adequate funding or reimbursement to hospitals— only 70% of the total cost of care,” said Cori Gambini Registered Nurse and President of CWA Local 1168.
“New Yorkers – regardless of their ability to pay or the type of insurance they have – need and deserve high quality care,” said CJ Urlaub, Senior Vice President of Strategic Growth and New Partnerships, Catholic Health. “New York must raise rates to cover the cost of care and commit to rebase rates on a regular interval. The health of our community depends on it,” said Urlaub.
“At Oishei Children’s Hospital 60-70% of our patients receive health insurance through Medicaid,” said Dr. Steve Turkovich, President of Kaleida Health’s Oishei Children’s Hospital. “We need a robust and sustained funding plan to ensure that we can collectively and effectively address the social determinants of health for our community’s kids and families,” said Turkovich.
“Fully funding Medicaid is a powerful tool to reduce racial and ethnic disparities,” said Kim Utech, Nurse Practitioner, Kaleida Health’s Oishei Children’s Hospital. “It is a way to provide needed healthcare in our medically underserved neighborhoods,” said Utech.
“Governor Kathy Hochul, the time is now to fully fund Medicaid, so we have the supplies and staff to provide the proper healthcare our elderly generation needs,” said Renee Vernon, Licensed Practical Nurse at Garden Gate Nursing Home in Cheektowaga.
We are calling on governor Hochul to do the morally just thing,” said Grace Bogdanove, 1199SEIU Vice-President for WNY Nursing Homes. “To act in the interest of the most vulnerable members of our communities. And in the nursing home industry, that means committing to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates by $44 per resident per day across the state as a necessary bridge to rebasing,” said Bogdanove.
Today’s press conference builds on the growing coalition of New Yorkers pressing Governor Hochul to end the Medicaid funding crisis bringing together healthcare workers and members of Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), Communications Workers of America (CWA), the Public Employees Federation (PEF)and the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), as well as leaders from the largest healthcare employers in WNY – Catholic Health, Kaleida Health’s Oishei Children’s Hospital, Schofield Residence, and McGuire group.
Earlier this week, a coalition of Rochester state legislative leaders, hospital representatives, and healthcare advocates and workers held a press conference at University of Rochester Medical Center’s Strong Memorial Hospital to urge Governor Kathy Hochul to fully fund Medicaid.
About the New York Alliance for Healthcare Justice
The New York Alliance for Healthcare Justice (NYAHJ) is dedicated to ensuring that Medicaid reimbursements cover the full cost of care, so that all New Yorkers have access to quality health care. NYAHJ is an initiative through the Healthcare Education Project (HEP), a community-based advocacy organization working to protect and expand access to quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans through education, advocacy, and coalition building. HEP is a joint effort of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East and the Greater New York Hospital Association, founded in 1999.
For additional information, click HERE.
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Contact: April Ezzell, April.Ezzell@1199.org, (716) 449-1620, 1199SEIU Communications