Benefits of America’s Affordable Health Choices Act
In the 17th Congressional District of New York
Committee on Energy and Commerce
America’s Affordable Health Choices Act would provide significant benefits in the 17th Congressional District
of New York: up to
13,800 small businesses could receive tax credits to provide coverage to their employees; 1,600 seniors would avoid the donut hole
in Medicare Part D; 200 families could escape bankruptcy each year due to unaffordable health care costs; health care providers
would receive payment for $568 million in uncompensated care each year; and 91,000 uninsured individuals would gain access to high-quality,
affordable health insurance. Congressman Elliot L. Engel represents this district.
Help for small businesses.
Under the legislation, small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $40,000
qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance. There are up to 13,800 small businesses in
the district that could qualify for these credits.
Help for seniors with drug costs in the Part D donut hole.
Each year, 1,600 seniors in the district hit the donut hole and
are forced to pay their full drug costs, despite having Part D drug coverage. The legislation would provide them with immediate
relief, cutting brand name drug costs in the donut hole by 50%, and ultimately eliminate the donut hole.
Health care and financial security.
There were 200 health care-related bankruptcies in the district in 2008, caused primarily
by health care costs not covered by insurance. The bill provides health insurance for almost every American and caps annual
out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 per year, ensuring that no citizen will have to face financial ruin because of high health
care costs.
Relieving the burden of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers.
In 2008, health care providers in the district
provided $568 million worth of uncompensated care, care that was provided to individuals who lacked insurance coverage and
were unable to pay their bills. Under the legislation, these costs of uncompensated care would be virtually eliminated.
Coverage of the uninsured.
There are 112,000 uninsured individuals in the district, 16% of the district.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nationwide, 97% of all Americans will have insurance coverage when the bill
takes effect. If this benchmark is reached in the district, 91,000 people who currently do not have health
insurance will receive coverage.
No deficit spending.
The cost of health care reform under the legislation is fully paid for: half through making the Medicare
and Medicaid program more efficient and half through a surtax on the income of the wealthiest individuals. This surtax would
affect only 3,200 households in the district. The surtax would not affect 98.9% of taxpayers
in the district.
This analysis is based upon the following sources: the Gallup-Healthways Survey (data on the uninsured); the U.S. Census
(data on small businesses); the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (data on the Part D donut hole, health care-related
bankruptcies, and uncompensated care); and the House Committee on Ways and Means (data on the surtax).
July 2009
Benefits of America’s Affordable Health Choices Act
In the 18th Congressional District of New York
Committee on Energy and Commerce
America’s Affordable Health Choices Act would provide significant benefits in the 18th Congressional District
of New York: up to
22,100 small businesses could receive tax credits to provide coverage to their employees; 8,800 seniors would avoid the donut hole
in Medicare Part D; 460 families could
escape bankruptcy each year due to unaffordable health care costs; health care providers would receive payment for $147 million in
uncompensated care each year; and 53,000 uninsured individuals would
gain access to high-quality, affordable health insurance. Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey represents the district.
•
Help for small businesses. Under the legislation, small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less
than $40,000 qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance. There are up to 22,100
small businesses in the district that could qualify for these credits.
•
Help for seniors with drug costs in the Part D donut hole. Each year, 8,800 seniors in the district
hit the donut hole and are forced to pay their full drug costs, despite having Part D drug coverage. The legislation would
provide them with immediate relief, cutting brand name drug costs in the donut hole by 50%, and ultimately eliminate the donut
hole.
•
Health care and financial security. There were 460 health care-related bankruptcies in the district
in 2008, caused primarily by the health care costs not covered by insurance. The bill provides health insurance for almost
every American and caps annual out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 per year, ensuring that no citizen will have to face financial
ruin because of high health care costs.
•
Relieving the burden of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers. In 2008, health care providers
in the district provided $147 million worth of uncompensated care, care that was provided to individuals who lacked insurance
coverage and were unable to pay their bills. Under the legislation, these costs of uncompensated care would be virtually eliminated.
•
Coverage of the uninsured. There are 73,000 uninsured individuals in the district, 11% of the district. The Congressional
Budget Office estimates that nationwide, 97% of all Americans will have insurance coverage when the bill takes effect. If
this benchmark is reached in the district, 53,000 people who currently do not have health insurance will receive coverage.
•
No deficit spending. The cost of health care reform under the legislation is fully paid for: half through making
the Medicare and Medicaid program more efficient and half through a surtax on the income of the wealthiest individuals. This
surtax would affect only 19,600 households in the district. The surtax would not affect 93.9% of
taxpayers in the district.
This analysis is based upon the following sources: the Gallup-Healthways Survey (data on the uninsured); the U.S. Census
(data on small businesses); the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (data on the Part D donut hole, health care-related
bankruptcies (based on analysis of PACER court records), and uncompensated care); and the House Committee on Ways and Means
(data on the surtax).
July 2009
Benefits of America’s Affordable Health Choices Act
In the 19th Congressional District of New York
Committee on Energy and Commerce
America’s Affordable Health Choices Act would provide significant benefits in the 19th Congressional District
of New York: up to
18,700 small businesses could receive tax credits to provide coverage to their employees; 6,400 seniors would avoid the donut hole
in Medicare Part D; 790 families could escape bankruptcy each year due to unaffordable health
care costs; health care providers would receive payment for $47 million in uncompensated care each year; and 36,000 uninsured individuals would gain access to high-quality, affordable
health insurance. Congressman John J. Hall represents the district.
•
Help for small businesses. Under the legislation, small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less
than $40,000 qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance. There are up to 18,700 small
businesses in the district that could qualify for these credits.
•
Help for seniors with drug costs in the Part D donut hole. Each year, 6,400 seniors in the district hit the donut
hole and are forced to pay their full drug costs, despite having Part D drug coverage. The legislation would provide them
with immediate relief, cutting brand name drug costs in the donut hole by 50%, and ultimately eliminate the donut hole.
•
Health care and financial security. There were 790 health care-related bankruptcies in the district in 2008, caused
primarily by the health care costs not covered by insurance. The bill provides health insurance for almost every American
and caps annual out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 per year, ensuring that no citizen will have to face financial ruin because
of high health care costs.
•
Relieving the burden of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers. In 2008, health care providers
in the district provided $47 million worth of uncompensated care, care that was provided to individuals who lacked insurance
coverage and were unable to pay their bills. Under the legislation, these costs of uncompensated care would be virtually eliminated.
•
Coverage of the uninsured. There are 57,000 uninsured individuals in the district, 8% of the district. The Congressional
Budget Office estimates that nationwide, 97% of all Americans will have insurance coverage when the bill takes effect. If
this benchmark is reached in the district, 36,000 people who currently do not have health insurance will receive coverage.
•
No deficit spending. The cost of health care reform under the legislation is fully paid for: half through making
the Medicare and Medicaid program more efficient and half through a surtax on the income of the wealthiest individuals. This
surtax would affect only 7,000 households in the district. The surtax would not affect 97.8% of taxpayers
in the district.
This analysis is based upon the following sources: the Gallup-Healthways Survey (data on the uninsured); the U.S. Census
(data on small businesses); the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (data on the Part D donut hole, health care-related
bankruptcies (based on analysis of PACER court records), and uncompensated care); and the House Committee on Ways and Means
(data on the surtax).
March 29, 2009
Albany Agrees on a Plan to Raise Taxes on Top Earners
Gov. David A. Paterson and leaders of the Legislature have reached a deal to temporarily raise taxes on New York’s highest earners in order
to close the state’s yawning budget deficit, lawmakers and officials involved in the talks said on Saturday.
The new plan, which would expire after three years, would represent the largest state income tax increase in recent history,
significantly larger than the surcharges imposed from 2003 to 2005, when the state last faced a major recession.
The plan would raise $4 billion a year by creating two new tax brackets, the highest one affecting those who earn $500,000
or more. If approved by rank-and-file lawmakers in the Assembly and State Senate, the tax increases would be a major victory
for unions and liberal advocacy groups and a signal of the new balance of power in Albany, where Democrats won control of
both houses of the Legislature and the governor’s office in last year’s election.
Although the proposed tax has been called a “millionaires’ tax,” it would affect those with incomes starting
at $300,000, who would be taxed at a rate of 7.85 percent. The highest bracket would carry a tax rate of 8.97 percent —
the same as New Jersey’s current highest rate.
Officials said that Mr. Paterson, who has argued for months that new income taxes should be a last resort in balancing
the budget, accepted the plan after winning significant spending cuts in areas like health care and education.
Mr. Paterson’s willingness to accept the new taxes reflects, in part, how rapidly the state’s finances are
deteriorating. Since proposing his budget in December, projected tax revenues for the fiscal year beginning April 1 have dropped
by $3.2 billion, while rising Medicaid caseloads will cost $750 million more than originally projected for this year and next year. That shift has left Mr. Paterson
and lawmakers with little choice but to employ every possible mechanism to shrink budget gaps.
But the deal also reflects the leverage held by Sheldon Silver, the powerful Assembly speaker, over both Mr. Paterson, whose public approval ratings are low, and Malcolm A. Smith, the Senate leader, whose 32-to-30 Democratic majority has proved difficult to steer.
Mr. Smith’s conference had hoped for a more radical overhaul of income taxes, one that would have created as many
as nine brackets and raised as much as $5 billion, some of which could have been used to offset property taxes for homeowners
— a major concern for upstate and suburban voters in swing districts. Senate Democrats said Mr. Silver balked at the
idea of using any income tax increase to offset property taxes, and Assembly officials said the Senate’s plan was not
workable and its financial projections were inaccurate.
However, in a concession to Senate Democrats, Mr. Silver agreed to allow the new taxes to be phased out after three years,
rather than the five years he had originally advocated — a time period that would have created enormous political pressure
to maintain the increase indefinitely. In a concession to Mr. Paterson, who favored a simpler structure, the three-bracket
rate favored by Mr. Silver was reduced to two.
“Raising the personal income tax is going to make it harder for New York to recover economically,” said Elizabeth
Lynam, the deputy research director of the Citizens Budget Commission.
Currently, New York’s highest tax rate, 6.85 percent, kicks in for couples and joint filers making more than $40,000.
“It’s a profound breakthrough for tax fairness,” said Dan Cantor, executive director of the Working Families Party. “The era of phony prosperity has ended, and a new era of real shared sacrifice must begin."
Crain's: Tax hike is
textbook politics
Working Families Party rallies popular support, legislative action in Albany
New York's chattering classes are no longer debating whether state income taxes will be jacked up on high
earners. Now the only question is by how much. And the credit-or blame-for successfully framing the debate goes largely to
a minor political party that's starting to have a major impact on state government.
The left-leaning Working Families Party has orchestrated a tax-reform campaign straight from the textbook
of retail politics. Last week, it staged eight simultaneous rallies that drew nearly 100,000 people statewide, including 50,000
at City Hall. It has knocked on 42,000 doors, generating 7,000 handwritten letters to lawmakers. Radio advertisements saturate
the airwaves in Albany. Its YouTube video "highlighting how easy the state's tax system is on millionaires," as a party spokesman
put it, is being watched a thousand times a day.
"It certainly has made a difference," says Assemblyman Jonathan Bing, D-Manhattan, pointing to identical
bills in the Assembly and Senate that would raise rates on people with adjusted gross incomes above $250,000.
Targeting opponents
It is not just the advocacy campaign, Mr. Bing says, but the Working Families Party's ability to oust incumbents
that grabs legislators' attention. Indeed, the party campaigned relentlessly for months before last November's elections to
evict state Senate veterans Serf Maltese and Caesar Trunzo, resulting in the Democratic takeover of the chamber. That, in
turn, has made the tax increase achievable.
The Working Families Party was founded in 1998 by labor unions and liberal groups with the goal of pulling
the Democratic Party to the left. The United Autoworkers, advocacy group Acorn, the Communication Workers of America, the
Laborers Union and Citizen Action were involved from the outset; health care workers union 1199 SEIU and the United Federation
of Teachers joined soon after.
The party secured its own ballot line, on which candidates from other parties can run. New York's unusual
fusion voting system allows votes from different ballot lines to be combined, so Working Families is not relegated to running
"spoiler" candidates, Executive Director Dan Cantor says.
The tax bills will almost certainly be folded into legislation establishing the next state budget, which
is due March 31. Revenue raised by the increased taxes will be used to fund education, health care, and other areas dear to
the party and other members of its "Fair Share Tax Reform" coalition-1199, the UFT and New York State United Teachers, Acorn,
the United Auto Workers, the Communication Workers of America, nonprofit social services providers and others.
"The Wall Street meltdown has permanently knocked several billion dollars out of the core of the state's
tax base, and threatened all of the money that flows to their programs," says E.J. McMahon, director of the Manhattan Institute's
Empire Center for New York State Policy. "They need a permanent replacement for that money."
To appease the more conservative Democrats in the Senate, a compromise is expected. The 10.3% top marginal
rate in the bill, which would tie California's as the nation's highest, could be lowered to 8.97%, matching New Jersey's.
Or the adjusted gross income that triggers a higher rate could be raised to $350,000 or so. But the current rate of 6.85%
on all income over $40,000 appears to be doomed. Once the new rates are part of a state budget agreement between the Legislature
and Gov. David Paterson, their approval will be assured.
"We haven't won anything yet, but I feel like we're winning the debate," says Mr. Cantor, who has run the
party since its creation.
State Sen. Eric Schneiderman, D-Manhattan, who is carrying the bill in the Senate, says: "They've been moving
public opinion. And they have been effectively reaching out to those of us in the Legislature to encourage us-to show that
not only is this the right thing to do, it's the politically popular thing to do."
The opposition has been meek by comparison. A conservative political action committee, New Yorkers for Growth,
started an online petition, and the Real Estate Board of New York put together a group called Taxpayers for an Affordable
New York, which includes the Business Council of New York State. The latter group sent a mailing to 125,000 high-earning households
and launched a Web site that has generated 1,000 e-mail messages to legislators.
Getting message out
The Fair Share site, meanwhile, has generated 25,000 e-mails in addition to arranging the rallies, letters,
commercials and personal meetings with lawmakers.
"They have a system, a very powerful system, for raising money and taking over the airwaves," says Kenneth
Adams, president of the business council. "Millions of average New Yorkers across the state don't have those systems-and frankly,
neither does the business community-to mobilize to oppose this."
Mr. Schneiderman says the Fair Share campaign has tapped into the growing public sentiment that "the redistribution
of wealth to the wealthy went too far." But Mr. McMahon says the Working Families Party and its allies have used "class warfare"
to "create the illusion of a mass movement."
Whatever the case, it's working.
"Lawmakers are very skittish and easily swayed by any sign of organized activity," Mr. McMahon says. "Especially
when there's no sign of organized activity countering it."
Having wealthy pay 'fair share' is center stage at community meeting Gerald McKinstry The Journal News
VALHALLA - Hey rich people, share the pain.
A coalition of civic groups, residents, nonprofits and those who would be affected by Gov. David Paterson's budget cuts
say New York's wealthiest should ante up to help close the state's budget deficit.
Dozens of people turned out tonight to protest those cuts, ask questions about how they'll be affected and learn more about
a movement that wants "Fair Share Tax Reform."
It's not quite the so-called "millionaires tax" because the plan calls for raising taxes on those earning $250,000 a year
or more.
"That budget (deficit) shouldn't be solved by cuts and services that affect low- and moderate-income people," said David
Schwartz, vice chair of the Working Families Party of Westchester and Putnam counties. "You can't solve the problem by simply
making budget cuts. ... Everybody is going to have to bite the bullet in this economic climate. It's sharing the sacrifice."
The way Schwartz and other reform advocates see it, Paterson's budget cuts and new fees on sugary sodas, haircuts, movies
and the like unfairly target the poor and middle class.
"These are taxes that impact working people and not wealthy people," Schwartz said.
Because the tax rate is now 6.85 percent for all incomes, upping it incrementally for people earning $250,000 or more,
would generate $6 billion more to help bridge the state's projected gap, he said.
The meeting featured several speakers and a question-and-answer session with two state legislators - Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer,
D-Mamaroneck, and Assemblyman George Latimer, D-Rye.
It also broached how the governor's proposed cuts would affect health care, education, housing, social services, welfare
and other areas. It was sponsored by WestHELP, Mount Vernon United Tenants, Working Families Party and Hunger Action Network
of New York State. Pat Gray, of West HELP, moderated the evening.
"It's penny-wise, pound foolish," Dennis Hanratty, executive director of Mount Vernon United Tenant, said of the governor's
budget and its cuts to advocacy, tenant protection and homeless prevention programs. "People would much prefer to live on
their own, rather than in shelter. We should work on that. ... If we lose money, there's going to be a lot of homeless people."
Hanratty said it was far cheaper for nonprofit advocacy groups such as his to assist tenants rather than having tax-payers
pay for shelters.
Democrats Discussing Yet Another Minimum Wage Increase
Just days after the first minimum wage increase in ten years, democrats are discussing
yet another increase.
Senator Edward Kennedy announced this week his intention to propose a legislation for another
increase to $9.50 an hour. The proposal will aim to take effect in 2009. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 raised the federal
minimum amount to $5.85 up from $5.15. It also boosts the pay to $6.55 next year and $7.25 in 2009.
WHITE PLAINS - A federal judge has blocked this month's election for trustees in Port Chester, citing evidence that its
at-large system discriminates against Hispanics.
Judge Stephen Robinson took the unusual step by granting a preliminary injunction requested by the Justice Department,
ending a trial scheduled for this spring. He said he based his decision on the likelihood that the government would win the
trial, and that holding the March 20 election in Port Chester would cause "irreparable harm" to Hispanics.
There was no immediate word on whether Port Chester would appeal. The village scheduled a Saturday morning meeting of its
board "to consider the options," said spokesman Aldo Vitagliano.
The lawsuit against Port Chester was filed by the Justice Department in December. It alleged that allowing the entire village
to vote for each of six trustees diluted the influence of the growing Hispanic population, now nearing 50 percent in the village
of 28,000.
--------
We feel Portchester officials should face the reality of the situation and settle with the community.
It is just a matter of time and it would save the taxpayers so much money. Not to mention it is the most democratic
way to proceed. Every effort should be made to include all people in the democratic process.
Patrick Welsh (left) and Dave Schwartz (right) Meet with New Yonkers City Council President
Steering Committee Members, Deborah, Nadine and Darlene with Chuck Lesnick.
WFP Puts Chuck Lesnick Over the Top
Chuck Lesnick won the President of the Yonkers City Council in a close race with the WFP line giving him the
margin of victory. Chuck, a Democrat, defeated 10 year incumbent Richard Martinelli and pushed the Democrats to a majority
in the council for the first time in many years.
True to our purpose, we now expect big things from Chuck. Affordable housing and increase funding for
education are certainly on the priority list. Repairing the education system starts with a fair contract for the Yonkers'
teachers. But also, Chuck could be the leader in bringing back integrity to Yonkers' government which has deteriorated
to obvious nepotism and corruption.
Chuck Lesnick is an example of the WFP's use of fusion. Pick good candidates, help them get elected
and then hold them to our issues. Chuck certainly has his work cut out for him, we do not expect miracles, but we are ready
to work with Chuck and the rest of the Yonkers' City Council to help the fourth largest city in the state live up to
its potential.
