Photo by Síle Moloney
As State elected officials remain in Albany thrashing out the latest overdue State budget deal with Gov. Kathy Hochul, a group of about 20 immigrants and health care workers joined nonprofit, Make the Road New York, for a rally outside Montefiore Medical Center on 210th Street in Norwood on Thursday, April 20, to call for the expansion of healthcare to immigrants.
Arlene Cruz Escobar, director of health programs at the nonprofit, addressed those gathered, saying, “We’re here today to stand in solidarity with our immigrant community members, our family, our friends, healthcare providers, nurses, health administrators, impacted community members. We’re all here today to advance this fight for health insurance coverage, because it is a basic human right. Who’s with me?”
This led into a chant of, “What do we want? Coverage for All! When do we want it? Now!” Cruz Escobar continued, “Last year, Gov. Hochul committed to working with the federal government to include undocumented New Yorkers in a proposal that would expand health insurance coverage to all immigrants regardless of immigration status. However, this year, inexplicably, when they submitted the draft 1332 waiver, immigrants were inexplicably omitted. Is that fair?”
Photo by Síle Moloney
Cruz Escobar went on to say that the final budget deal should authorize the use of a $2 billion surplus that she said currently exists in the Basic Health Plan Trust Fund for coverage for all New Yorkers under 250% of the federal poverty level, regardless of their immigration status. “This means that the State could use federal funding to expand health insurance coverage to our immigrant New Yorkers,” she said. “This would come at no cost to the State. The State would even see savings of over $500 million as it moves individuals who are currently enrolled in an emergency Medicaid program into comprehensive coverage that would allow them to finally access health care that they so desperately need.”
Cruz Escobar said this was the year to expand health insurance to immigrant communities. “We have the funds,” she said. “We are already submitting a 1332 waiver to expand health care access to those who are under the income limits. There’s absolutely no reason why this year can’t be the year that we finally pass Coverage for All and make sure that immigrant New Yorkers access the care that they need.”
Photo by Síle Moloney
Peter P. Semczuk, senior vice president at Montefiore Health System, later addressed the crowd, saying in part, “Thank you to all of you for being here this afternoon on this incredibly important occasion. I’d like to thank Make the Road for the work that you are doing, and have been doing representing some of the most needy people in this country in this borough. I’d also like to acknowledge and thank State Sen. Gustavo Rivera who is up in Albany making sure that there is coverage for all of us.”
He added, “The Bronx is home to one of the largest immigrant communities in the world. I am a child of immigrants, and so many of us here are children of immigrants. Immigrants deserve health care. Montefiore Health System proudly stands, with our workforce, with our unions with all of you and our 40,000 members want everyone to know we strongly advocate health care for all, we believe it’s the right thing to do, and we are happy to be your partners.”
Cruz Escobar said in recent weeks, the advocates had received support for coverage from major unions, congressional elected officials, healthcare leaders, the Business Council, the New York Health Plan Association, former New York State Health Commissioner Mary Bassett, Mayor Eric Adams, and over 1600 New Yorkers who submitted a comment opposing the current 1332 waiver because it omitted immigrant New Yorkers.
Photo by Síle Moloney
Michelle Gonzalez, a nurse at Montefiore Hospital, said, “This is such an important cause to myself and all the nurses that are here. I’m a nurse at Montefiore for 10 years and I know that access to New Yorkers… that we all need access to health care and to quality health care. It is simply unethical to leave behind any of our community whether it’s immigrants, the elderly, our neighbors, or family members. All of these people deserve to be included in the budget this year. Please Gov. Hochul, please pass this this budgetary need that we need for the immigrant community.” She then repeated her request in Spanish.
An immigrant patient, Gavina Santa Maria, a member of Make the Road New York, later spoke, addressing the governor directly, saying in part, “Hello m’am! We all are here fighting because we need medical insurance for us. We need Coverage for All!” Because you don’t know me, I’m gonna introduce myself, Gov. Hochul, to know the pain of all New Yorkers. I can’t sleep thinking about how [it] don’t touch your heart. All New Yorkers are suffering for everything is so expensive. A lot of people die because they don’t have medical insurance. We can’t sleep thinking about that. How can I go tomorrow to see a doctor if they don’t accept me? I don’t have medical insurance.”
Photo by Síle Moloney
Santa Maria said many New Yorkers were struggling trying to find a third job so they could get by. She said she’s been paying taxes for 15 years, and that it wasn’t fair that she continued to be excluded from Coverage for All. “I should get at least Coverage for All, at least to see the doctor, because our bosses are abusing us,” she said. “They say work, work and work and then when you get sick, you don’t have a chance to see a doctor. How are you going to see a doctor, right? I’m so mad right now. I’m sorry, Kathy Hochul, you have to listen to New Yorkers. The next year, my daughter’s gonna start paying taxes. Is it fair that her mother does not have medical insurance? That’s not fair!”
Santa Maria said immigrant workers were the backbone of the State and that this became especially clear when the pandemic hit. “It’s not right for our community to not have access to health coverage. We need to ensure that health coverage passes this year for all New Yorkers. We must ensure that everyone has access to health insurance regardless of their immigration status,” she said.
Photo by Síle Moloney
Chants of “Healthcare is a human right! Healthcare is a human right!” followed. Cruz Escobar then said there are over 255 New Yorkers who currently lack access to health insurance due to their immigration status. “Is this fair?” she asked, before thanking Rivera and Assemblywoman Jessica Gonzalez Rojas, who she said couldn’t be there on the day as she said they were in Albany “fighting” for Coverage for all.
Dr. Andrew Telzac, a primary care doctor treating patients in a private clinic in The Bronx, said he was at the rally to highlight what he said was the dire need for insurance coverage for all New Yorkers regardless of documentation status. “So in my primary care practice, I see a large population of undocumented immigrants, and many come into my clinic having avoided care for years, with fears that being uninsured would bring high costs and years of debt,” he said.
He said they were sometimes referred from the emergency room or were seeing him after a hospital admission with poorly controlled chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes. “Sometimes, we’re able to avoid the harmful effects of these conditions, with appropriate treatment and follow up, but sometimes, the damage has already been done, and people are left with organ damage and disabilities facing new challenges of poverty, compounded with their worsening health,” he said.
Photo by Síle Moloney
He said a patient of his who he saw earlier this week has been struggling to navigate his new reality after a stroke left him unable to work or provide financially for his family. “I met him after he was discharged from the hospital after his stroke, and he seemed shocked to learn that there were places where he could access primary care given his documentation status,” Telzak said. “This was all avoidable for him, as it is for many. But we see day in and day out this limited access to care as a major determinant of the health disparities among immigrant communities.”
He said expanding health care coverage could be a start to addressing what he said were the devastating effects that limited access to care has played in widening health disparities in the community. “The federal funding is on the table to pay for the expansion of health insurance to all low income New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status,” Telzak said. Now it’s time to take advantage of this. The literal lives of many in our community are on the line with this decision.”
Photo by Síle Moloney
Norwood News contacted the governor’s office for comment. A spokesperson responded, saying, “Gov. Hochul’s executive budget makes transformative investments to make New York more affordable, more livable and safer, and she continues to work with the legislature to deliver a final budget that meets the needs of all New Yorkers.”
We were referred to draft FY 2024 executive budget which reportedly takes steps to expand coverage, improve health outcomes, and reduce unnecessary financial burdens on the state’s health care system. According to representatives for the governor, expanding the Essential Plan to undocumented immigrants through the 1332 waiver process carries significant financial uncertainty and risk.
They said the federal government will not provide incremental funding for the undocumented population and is unlikely to allow the State to tap its accrued balance in the Essential Plan Trust Fund, as the Trust Fund’s uses – authorized under the Affordable Care Act and in federal law – are limited to expanding health care for U.S. citizens or lawfully present immigrants only.
They said there is also uncertainty in estimating the size and characteristics of the undocumented immigrant population, and by extension participation rates and per member costs in an expanded Essential Plan program.
They added that the governor will continue to explore options to broaden coverage throughout the State in a way that is compliant with federal rules and regulations, and without causing significant uncertainty or creating financial risk for New York State.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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