The Health, Human Services and Housing Committee (Chair Walter and Legislators Corcoran, Erner, Lopez, Nolan, Petit, and Uchitelle

Chair of the Health, Human Services and Housing Committee, Eve Walter, and Legislators Criswell, Erner, Sperry, and Uchitelleoffer the following:

WHEREAS, every person in Ulster County – indeed, the entire country – deserves a lifetime of high quality comprehensive health care without regard to social or economic status; and

WHEREAS, despite significant improvements brought about by the Affordable Care Act, 30 million Americans are uninsured and, according to the Centers for Disease Control, more than one-third of Americans covered by employer-based plans report difficulties meeting their healthcare premiums and deductibles; and

WHEREAS, health care cost in 2020 in the United States was $1 trillion and the US Department of Health and Human Services 2016-2025 national health care expenditures predicted health care spending to grow annually at a rate of 4.7 percent per year per capita; and

WHEREAS, New York State has over 1 million uninsured residents and Ulster County has approximately 11,000 residents lacking any insurance and a high number of particularly vulnerable populations such as children, individuals with severe mental illness, and re-entering populations who are uninsured or underinsured; and

WHEREAS, in 2020 Ulster County spent over twenty-six million dollars on employee and retiree healthcare expenses, a 4% increase from the year before; and

WHEREAS, an improved Medicare for All plan would save taxpayers, businesses and local governments millions of dollars each year in rising healthcare expenses; and

WHEREAS, a Medicare for All system would reduce County spending on healthcare and enable local governments across our state to invest additional dollars into education, environmental protection, housing assistance, and other critical services; and

WHEREAS an Improved Medicare for All would encourage new entrepreneurs and strengthen existing small businesses by significantly decreasing overhead healthcare expenses; and

WHEREAS, the Medicare for All Act would guarantee that all US residents will be fully covered for all necessary medical care including hospital, surgical, and outpatient services; primary and preventive care; emergency services, dental and vision care, long-term care, and reproductive services; and

WHEREAS, the Medicare for All Act would provide coverage with no extra costs to consumers, including deductibles and copays, will assure free choice of doctors and other providers, protect the doctor-patient relationship, and streamline administrative costs significantly; and

WHEREAS, while the Affordable Care Act has increased the numbers of the insured, Medicare For All can make healthcare universally accessible and affordable for all US residents; and

WHEREAS, the implementation of Medicare For All would reduce costs for 95 percent of all households, simultaneously save taxpayers, including communities of color and socio-economic challenged residents, considerable sums on healthcare costs; create a great number of jobs in public healthcare administration; expand opportunities for students to attend medical and dental school; and save tens of thousands of lives every year; and

WHEREAS, the implementation of Medicare for All would result in a single negotiating unit that would reduce costs for medications such as insulin for people with Diabetes, that has increased in cost 11 percent annually and currently is over ten-times more expensive in the United States than in Canada and the United Kingdom; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Legislature supports universal health care, through the Medicare for All Act, H.R. 1976, a Federal bill that seeks to guarantee comprehensive healthcare to all US residents, and calls upon our Congressional delegation to work towards its immediate enactment; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Legislature also supports the New York Health Act, A.6058/S.5474, State legislation that similarly seeks to guarantee comprehensive healthcare to all NY residents, and calls upon our state legislators to pass the New York Health Act in 2022; and, be it further

RESOLVED, the Clerk of the Ulster County Legislature shall forward copies of this resolution to U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Congressman Antonio Delgado, Hon. Governor Kathy Hochul, Assembly and Senate Health Committee Chairs, and all Ulster County elected Assemblymembers and Senators,  

and move its adoption.                                                                 

ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

AYES:                     NOES:               

Passed Committee: Health, Human Services and Housing on _____________.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

NONE