NY Health Act: Comprehensive Universal Health Coverage for Every New Yorker
"The New York Health Act [A.5248, S.3577] will provide comprehensive, universal health coverage for every New Yorker. You and your healthcare providers will work to keep you healthy—New York Health pays the bill. We need to fight back against the congressional attacks on affordable healthcare nationally and organize in New York for a healthcare system that guarantees coverage for all of us."
— Campaign for NY Health
Water & Air Pollution, COVID-19 & Need for Universal Health Coverage
The poisoning of our water and air leaves our community more at risk to the ravages of COVID-19. Numbers are showing that Newburgh, a classic Social and Environmental Justice community, is being hit HARD, and there are many reasons, but immune system suppression due to decades of ingesting poison is not something to ignore when considering increased morbidity in our community.
3,763 Newburgh residents and workers participated in the NY State Department of Health Biomonitoring Program between Nov. 2016 and Dec. 2017 and were tested for six PFAS "forever" chemicals. Of those six, three chemicals—PFAS, PFOA and PFHxS—were found to be elevated well above the national average. Of adults (18+ yrs) who drank city water and were in the 50th percentile, PFOS levels were found to be 20.1 mcg/L—nearly four times the national average of 5.2 mcg/L. PFAS exposure is linked to kidney, testicular and liver cancers, thyroid disruption, high cholesterol, impaired fertility, pregnancy complications and suppressed immunity.
According to the NYS Department of Health's Equity Report, the City of Newburgh's rate of emergency visits for asthma has been nearly 2.5x that of the rest of the state. The American Lung Association rates Orange County "C" for Ozone pollution.
In an April 2020 Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Study, "Exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 mortality in the United States", researchers found:
"…that an increase of only 1 g/m3 in PM2.5 [fine particulate matter] is associated with a 15% increase in the COVID-19 death rate, 95% confidence interval (CI) (5%, 25%). Results are statistically significant and robust to secondary and sensitivity analyses."
Fast Company reports similarly in this April 2020 article by Adele Peters: "The Most Polluted Parts of the US Are More At Risk for Coronavirus Deaths."
Without question, universal healthcare is a mandatory part of the remediation and reparation process: EVERYONE must be cared for.
