Coalition of faith leaders represent communities and faiths from across New York State
Capitol rally, interfaith letter add to growing pressure on Governor Hochul to fully fund Medicaid
Albany, New York – Today, over two dozen pastors, reverends, imams, and faith leaders from Brooklyn, Albany, Rochester, and across New York State rallied at the Capitol to urge Governor Hochul to fully fund Medicaid and end the disparate health burdens suffered by their congregations. This comes as over 200 faith leaders and religious organizations statewide have signed on to an open letter calling on the Governor to act immediately and raise the Medicaid reimbursement rate to fully cover the cost of care for hospitals and alleviate the suffering in their communities, some of which have the state’s highest rates of Medicaid enrollments.
Today’s rally builds on the growing coalition of New Yorkers pressing Governor Hochul to end the Medicaid funding crisis. Last week, a majority of Democratic legislators in New York pledged to support fully funding Medicaid. Earlier this month, Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) President Ken Raske and 1199SEIU President George Gresham rallied at the Capitol with Albany leaders, healthcare workers, and patients in support of legislation that would increase the Medicaid reimbursement rate.
“I’ve seen the suffering in my communities every day. I’ve seen the lives lost to diseases that we can prevent and cancers we can detect: My own church administrator of 30 years was stricken with stage 4 cancer and we had to fight to get her care she needed. When my son Bishop Jamel Moore had kidney failure, and we prayed to get him on the donors’ list, Medicaid didn’t fully cover what he needed. When the elderly in my church complained about not getting their prescriptions – or when they did, they couldn’t afford them. This isn’t politics for us. It’s personal,” said Archbishop Eric Figueroa, Sr. of New Life Covenant Fellowship in Brooklyn, who hand-delivered the letter directly to the Governor’s office, after the public unveiling at the Senate staircase.
“When New York’s Medicaid program reimburses hospitals 30 percent less than the actual cost of care, it’s not just healthcare providers losing. It’s my community. It’s the expectant mothers in my congregation who are losing a maternity ward and the guarantee of a safe childbirth. It’s the children who can’t see a pediatrician to diagnose their diabetes and are ending up in an ER instead of getting care and treatment. It’s the reason why the rates of preventable diseases and deaths are so much higher in my communities than they are in the richer, whiter ones, where patients have their care fully covered by private insurers,” said Reverend Dr. Elgin Taylor Sr. of Albany, who additionally leads over 300 churches as the President of the Empire Baptist Missionary Convention. “As faith leaders, we are here in the community. We are witnesses to the devastation this health care crisis is causing. We are being asked to ease the pain and anguish of sickness because there isn’t a doctor here to treat the cause. And we are here to tell our leaders that it’s not right. Fully fund Medicaid now, and we can begin to end this fundamentally wrong and destructive health care system that is failing our congregations.”
“We pray that the most vulnerable people in our congregations have Medicaid coverage, and can get the care they need. But sometimes, words alone are not enough. We’ve come to Albany to demand the Governor act and do what’s right: End this coverage gap, and fully fund Medicaid today. This isn’t politics. It’s a moral imperative,” said Bishop John Crocker of the Faith, Worship & Charity Worship Center in Rochester.
The coalition of faith leaders were joined by Senator Cordell Cleare and Democratic Assembly Members David Weprin, Harvey Epstein, George Alvarez, John Zaccaro, Eddie Gibbs, Monique Chandler-Waterman, all of whom have urged Governor Hochul to fully fund Medicaid.
“As Chair of the Senate Aging Committee, I am a proud supporter of the Medicaid Equity Now Pledge because institutions being shortchanged 30 cents on every dollar of care is not a sustainable policy—it can only lead to negative health outcomes for our people. Instead, we must pursue a path of healthcare equity for the Black and Brown folks and families who are suffering under a state-sanctioned second-class system that currently leaves us all further behind,” said Sen. Cordell Cleare.
Over seven million New Yorkers rely on Medicaid for their healthcare, the majority of whom come from Black and Latino communities. Even though Medicaid provides vital coverage to these New Yorkers, New York’s Medicaid program pays hospitals 30% less than the actual cost of care hospitals provide. This system endangers healthcare providers and the low-income patients, including seniors, children, mothers, and people with disabilities, who rely on them.
Hospitals in New York continue to struggle financially more than in the rest of the U.S.—63% had an operating deficit in 2021—largely as a result of the severe underfunding of the State’s Medicaid program. Last year’s rate Medicaid increase of 7.5% was counteracted by other cuts to hospitals in the state budget, such as the indigent care pool and 340B drug program. With these cuts, all set against a rate that had remained essentially flat for 15%, the effective rate increase was only 1.6%, about one-quarter of the cost increases that hospitals have experienced.
Without sufficient funding, many hospitals cannot invest in programs or infrastructure that benefit the patients and communities they serve, and instead are left to reduce services, cut services or even close their doors:
- In 2023 Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center (Brooklyn) and Beth Israel Medical Center (Manhattan) both announced that they are closing services. Eastern Niagara Hospital (Western New York) shuttered in June.
- Over the past 15 years, nearly 30 maternity units have closed or reduced services.
- The New York State Office of Mental Health has also reported the closure of 850 inpatient psychiatric bedsacross the State. Chronic underfunding of psychiatric services makes operating and staffing these services extremely difficult.
Chronic underfunding has also contributed to health disparities in largely Black and Latino communities, particularly affecting low-income seniors, expectant mothers, young children from low-income families, and people with disabilities.
For example, while Medicaid covers 50% of births in New York, women covered by Medicaid accounted for 61% of pregnancy-associated deaths in 2018, with Black women experiencing significantly higher mortality rates than other races. Infant mortality rates for Blacks and Latinos are also higher than for whites.
In another example, residents of the Bronx also experience higher rates of emergency department visits for asthma for adults and kids, and higher rates of hospitalizations for diabetes. These are just a few examples of the ongoing health disparities, worsened by the longtime underfunding of Medicaid.
By raising Medicaid rates to cover the cost of hospital services over the next four years, New York can eliminate the Medicaid funding gap and reduce the resulting care gaps and health disparities for the 40% of New Yorkers covered by the Medicaid program. This will not only stabilize hospitals across the state but also allow them to invest and grow critical services needed to treat the most vulnerable New Yorkers.
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.
