Institute Joins Local Officials in Calling for Restoration of “Essential Plan” Health Coverage

The Institute was proud to host U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, along with numerous Hudson Valley elected officials and advocates, at a press conference on October 29 to call for restoring access to Essential Plan health coverage in New York State and beyond. The group gathered at the Institute’s Pine Street Family Health Center in Kingston to bring awareness to the impacts of HR1, a federal law passed last year that eliminated health insurance coverage or made coverage far less affordable for more than 450,000 New Yorkers. As a result of the change, Leader Schumer said at the event, more than 46,000 New Yorkers in the Hudson Valley alone have lost coverage since cuts took effect this past July.

“This loss in coverage is the most rapid decrease in health insurance in New York’s history,” said Senator Schumer, “and leaving working families without health insurance is its policy.”

In September, Senator Schumer introduced the Restoring Essential Plan Coverage Act (S.5619), which he said would fully restore Affordable Care Act coverage cuts implemented as a result of the passage of HR1.  A companion bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose district is also served by Institute health centers.

“At our health center, approximately 1,600 patients lost Essential Plan health insurance coverage,” said Dr. Eric Gayle, President & CEO of the Institute for Family Health. “Losing insurance does not eliminate the need for health care. It simply makes that care harder to obtain and more difficult to afford. We at the Institute stand in support of any legislation or pathway for health care coverage to be made available and affordable to all.”

A Hudson Valley resident, Hannah Greve, spoke about her personal experience as an Essential Plan enrollee. “Medicaid has been the only way that I have been able to afford health care for a majority of my life,” Greve said. “I now have to pay out of pocket for a lot of services and medications that I’ve received in the past without needing to pay.”

Also in attendance were U.S. Representative Pat Ryan, State Senator Michelle Hinchey, State Asssemblymember Sarahana Shrestha, Ulster County Public Health Director Eve Walter, and Kingston Mayor Steve Noble. The government leaders were joined by representatives from the Institute for Family Heath, Ellenville Regional Hospital, Garnet Health, the Community Health Care Association of New York State, the New York State Nurses Association, O+ and other health care and community groups.