JOINT STATEMENT ON THE STATE SENATE BUDGET RESOLUTION FROM HEALTHCARE ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK STATE (HANYS),GREATER NEW YORK HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION (GNYHA), AND 1199 SEIU UNITED HEALTHCARE WORKERS EAST

“The New York State Senate has long been deeply committed to ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to quality health care.  That commitment was demonstrated once again today with the release of a Senate budget resolution that rejects a new tax increase on hospitals, nursing homes, and home care, and restores funding associated with hospital readmissions penalties.  The resolution also postpones a damaging “regional pricing” proposal for nursing homes that would greatly harm quality care.

“However, the Senate resolution is not without pain.  Most significantly, it assumes the enactment of a proposal from Governor Paterson to drastically cut “charity care” funding for hospitals.  These are the critically important funds hospitals receive to care for the uninsured and underinsured residents of their communities.

“With the economic downturn far from over, the uninsured problem in New York will almost certainly worsen before federal health reform can begin to provide a remedy.  In the meantime, the uninsured will continue to need health care services.  Consequently, the preservation of hospital charity care funding has never been more essential.

“Mindful of this need, and of the state’s precarious fiscal condition, GNYHA and HANYS have developed a savings proposal for the Senate’s consideration that would both protect charity care funding and generate significant state savings.

“We look forward to discussing the details of this important proposal with Senate leadership.”

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With 350,000 members in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland and Washington D.C., 1199 SEIU is the largest and fastest growing healthcare union in the country. Our mission is to achieve affordable, high quality healthcare for all.