New Yorkers Rally Against Healthcare Cuts, Urge Congress to Reopen the Government By Making Permanent Critical Healthcare Tax Credits
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — This Tuesday, 1199SEIU healthcare workers, Indivisible Brooklyn, Empire State Voices, and Healthcare Education Project advocates rallied outside Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ Brooklyn district office, urging the Congressmember to avert a government shutdown by making permanent healthcare tax credits that support the health of millions of Americans.
Federal lawmakers have shut down the government rather than back a plan to preserve Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage for millions of Americans, threatening to raise their costs and force many off the rolls. Since 2021, these healthcare tax credits have been a lifeline for 220,000 New Yorkers covered by ACA plans, making healthcare accessible and affordable at a time when the cost of living continues to rise.
“New Yorkers are already feeling the pain of the high costs of everyday life. Now, while Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis promises to fight on behalf of working New Yorkers, she's actively working to raise the healthcare costs of her own constituents to pay for tax breaks for the rich," said Zachary Tirgan, Multi-Regional Organizing Director for Empire State Voices. "Earlier this summer, Rep. Malliotakis, Rep. Mike Lawler, and other Republicans in Congress voted to slash Medicaid funding, threatening the healthcare of millions of New Yorkers. Now, when faced with the opportunity to roll back those very cuts and lower healthcare costs for hundreds of thousands of families across the state, she's choosing to raise costs on working families instead.
Federal lawmakers have shut down the government rather than back a plan to preserve coverage for millions of Americans, threatening to raise their costs. | CREDIT: Empire State Voices
Should these tax credits expire at the end of 2025, it would set off a wave of negative consequences. More than 20 million Americans will face higher healthcare costs next year, and in some cases, these costs could nearly double, forcing about 2 million people to lose coverage altogether, according to a recent New York Times analysis. Coupled with the effects of Medicaid cuts in the recently passed Republican Tax Law, skyrocketing medical debt, and more uncompensated care at hospitals and clinics, threatens care and services for up to 860,000 New Yorkers.
"I know too many people in this country do not seek the basic healthcare they need because they don’t get the coverage they need because of the cost,” said Nidhi Khana, a resident of New York’s 11th Congressional District. “Years ago, when I was no longer on my parents’ plan, I bought a plan on the marketplace. It actually saved my life: I was covered and found out I had a severe allergy and could have gone into anaphylactic shock. I did a blood test while insured and found out, so having healthcare literally saved my life. It gave me peace of mind to have healthcare. This is why having subsidized tax credits for others is so important: A life could be saved when we don’t even know it."
“If the healthcare tax credits for 20 million people are not restored, millions will lose coverage, and care costs will go up for everyone to handle the expense of newly uninsured emergencies,” said Lee Crawford of Indivisible Brooklyn. “Democrats in Congress are demanding permanent tax credits and the restoration of $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid to be restored, preventing a loss of coverage and care that will kill people. Representative Malliotakis has a voice at the table with Republicans, and we demand that she use it to benefit her constituents.”
“I work at a publicly funded hospital, and every day I see patients struggling to access their healthcare,” said Libbey Hartung, a Brooklyn Hospital medical resident. “It’s important to be proactive and stop this from getting any worse. You don’t want to see anyone struggling, or any more unnecessary suffering.”
To learn more about Empire State Voices, please reach out to press@empirestatevoices.org
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About Empire State Voices
Empire State Voices (ESV) is a multi-year campaign dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday working New Yorkers. ESV is fighting for economic policies that make life more affordable for constituents and holding members of Congress across the state accountable when they fail to do the same.
