{"id":83062,"date":"2017-07-24T13:32:44","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T17:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=83062"},"modified":"2017-07-23T16:07:38","modified_gmt":"2017-07-23T20:07:38","slug":"schneiderman-cuomo-vow-to-bring-lawsuit-if-health-care-bill-becomes-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=83062","title":{"rendered":"Schneiderman, Cuomo vow to bring lawsuit if health care bill becomes law"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>New York Attorney General And Governor Stand United Against Repeal Of Affordable Care Act<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today stood together to announce that, if the House or Senate health care bill is signed into law,\u00a0New York State will bring a lawsuit challenging the bill’s constitutionality.<\/p>\n

Schneiderman and Cuomo made the announcement at an event\u00a0at Mount Sinai Hospital, encouraging members of New York\u2019s Congressional delegation to stand against the bill.\u00a0Should it pass\u00a0and be signed into law,\u00a0New York will challenge the Republican health care bill in court on the basis of several constitutional defects, including the placement of unconstitutional conditions on federal dollars used for health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bill isn\u2019t simply unconscionable and unjust \u2013 it\u2019s unconstitutional. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve made clear: if this bill ever becomes law, I will challenge it in court, to protect the millions of New Yorkers whose health care is at stake,\u201d said\u00a0Schneiderman.\u00a0\u201cThis bill\u2019s attacks on Planned Parenthood would create an undue burden on women\u2019s fundamental constitutional right to reproductive health care, while placing unconstitutional conditions on federal dollars that fund vital services like breast cancer screenings, STD tests, and more. Meanwhile, the Faso-Collins amendment represents a cynical ploy to meddle in New York\u2019s Medicaid funding system, requiring massive state tax increases to offset billions in lost federal funds. We won\u2019t stand for it. And we will sue \u2013 because this is about New Yorkers’ health, their lives, and their basic rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Senate health care bill is an assault on New Yorkers and will have devastating and widespread repercussions in our State,\u201d said\u00a0Cuomo.\u00a0\u201cToken changes cannot hide the fact that this is a cruel and heartless bill.\u00a0 New Yorkers are not easily fooled, and, if this harmful bill passes, we will stand together and challenge its constitutionality in court.\u00a0My first priority is always the health of New Yorkers, and we will not let this bill jeopardize the health care of those in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Senate\u2019s proposed tax cut for millionaires poorly disguised as a health care bill is a disaster for New Yorkers,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Mayor Bill de Blasio.\u00a0\u201cHundreds of thousands would lose health coverage and the pressure on our public hospitals and first responders would be enormous. It will send us back to a time when New Yorkers were forced to choose between the care they need and feeding their families. That’s why we are organizing to stop this bill. I applaud Governor Cuomo and Attorney General Schneiderman for vowing to take this critical step if this bill becomes a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill delivers tax cuts to insurance companies, medical device companies and high-income people while jeopardizing health care coverage for millions of middle-class New Yorkers, exacerbating the opioid epidemic ravaging the country and driving up costs for people with pre-existing conditions.\u00a0 If passed, it would cut billions of dollars from New York\u2019s Medicaid program and includes a proposal by two reckless\u00a0members of New York’s own congressional delegation, Representatives John Faso and Chris Collins, that seeks to\u00a0eliminate $2.3 billion dollars in payments, forcing\u00a0all New Yorkers to pay a “Faso-Collins Federal Tax.”<\/p>\n

New York has taken aggressive action to protect New Yorkers\u2019 access to quality, affordable health care, mandating that insurance companies cannot discriminate against New Yorkers with pre-existing conditions or based on age or gender; mandating that insurance policies cover all 10 essential benefits laid out in the Affordable Care Act; and banning all insurers who withdraw from offering Qualified Health Plans on the State Health Marketplace from future participation in the marketplace.<\/p>\n

This also follows a\u00a0number of steps Attorney General Schneiderman has taken to protect women\u2019s reproductive rights, including issuing a\u00a0formal legal opinion<\/a>\u00a0to cement the fact that New York State\u2019s criminal law does not interfere with the reproductive health rights ensured by\u00a0Roe v. Wade\u00a0and later cases; investigation of New York health plans\u2019 adherence to federal no-cost sharing requirements for contraceptives, and introducing the\u00a0New York Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act<\/a>\u00a0to protect cost-free access to birth control; and filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn\u00a0 a Texas law imposing unnecessary and burdensome requirements on abortion clinics with the purpose and effect of closing many of them.<\/p>\n

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul<\/strong>\u00a0said,\u00a0\u201cThe Senate\u2019s proposed repeal of the ACA would be devastating to our most vulnerable New Yorkers after cuts jeopardize access to health care across the board, from prenatal and reproductive services to nursing home care.\u00a0 I have been all across the state talking to New Yorkers who are only asking to be treated with dignity and respect, and they are afraid to get sick or old because they won\u2019t be able to receive the care they need under the proposed repeal. Our representatives in Washington need to do what they promised and get all New Yorkers the health care they deserve.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie\u00a0<\/strong>said,\u00a0\u201cHere in New York we have worked hard to achieve a public health system that meets the needs of individuals and families. Under the Affordable Care Act, we achieved health insurance coverage for a record number of New Yorkers and we will not abandon that progress. It is unimaginable that we have to implore Congress to do the right thing on this issue. As I have said many times, the Assembly Majority will not sit idly by while New York\u2019s citizens suffer devastating losses to their health care access. We made a promise to put families first and it that is why we continue to defend our communities against this hostile affront to healthcare in our country. I call on our representatives in Congress to put politics and self-interest aside and deliver a solution that truly meets the needs of the communities they serve.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bea Grause, President of The Healthcare Association of New York State,\u00a0<\/strong>said,\u00a0\u201cThe Senate Republican Health Care Bill reneges on years of progress that we\u2019ve made in supporting health care access in this country. The bill takes away healthcare from millions of New Yorkers who rely on the Medicaid program for themselves and their families. In this state, we stand tall in our opposition to this misguided bill.\u00a0 I thank Governor Cuomo for his leadership in this fight and for continuing to be a champion of women\u2019s rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kenneth E. Raske, President, Greater New York Hospital Association,<\/strong>\u00a0said,\u00a0\u201cThe current version of the senate bill, like the versions that preceded it \u2013 and for that matter the house bill \u2013 will have a crippling impact on hospitals that treat the most vulnerable populations. Some hospitals will close and others will have to reduce services. We ask all New Yorkers to band together and oppose this legislation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York Attorney General And Governor Stand United Against Repeal Of Affordable Care Act Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today stood together to announce that, if the House or Senate health care bill is signed into law,\u00a0New York State will bring a lawsuit challenging the bill’s constitutionality. Schneiderman and Cuomo made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23810,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing","category-top-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43meu-lBI","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Attorny_General_Eric_T_Schneiderman.jpg?fit=260%2C221&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/70131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}