Recently, thousands of 32BJ SEIU residential building service workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike to protect the wages, working conditions and benefits we built over almost a century. At the center of the tension with the employers was protecting the healthcare that our members and their families depend on.
Healthcare should be a right, but as we have seen, particularly as the federal government pulls back coverage for millions, it is something we need to fight for, up to and including going on strike.
The major driver of these costs is hospital prices, with one in two healthcare dollars and one in eight dollars of our members’ total compensation ending up in the hands of large hospital chains. That costs more than transportation and childcare, and competes with rent as one of the largest expenses they face. How do we control costs and ensure high quality care for New Yorkers?
For example, New York Presbyterian was overcharging our health fund so we had to drop them from our network. This was disruptive but it saved millions per year that can now go to wages. However, this isn’t a sustainable solution and that’s why we’re advocating to pass legislation in Albany — the Fair Pricing Act (FPA) — that would limit prices on the most common medical procedures.
The FPA would establish a price cap on routine, low-complexity healthcare services so that prices can’t rise unchecked. It would help level the playing field and restore fairness for patients by ensuring that routine medical services, such as flu shots, X-rays, or even a cast removal cost the same no matter where they are performed. Routine services should remain routine in price even if a big hospital system bought up your local doctor’s office.
Healthcare costs are passed directly onto working families and employers, and as a result, people cut back on getting the care they need when they can’t afford it.
For example, last year, two out of every three New Yorkers (66%) delayed or went without healthcare due to cost, with that number rising to a staggering 81% of Hispanic/Latino adults. Now, with millions of our neighbors facing sharp increases in marketplace plan prices due to the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits, these patterns are only going to get worse, forcing more people to forgo the care they need.
The Fair Pricing Act could help stop these dangerous trends and lead to tangible savings. A study by health economists at Brown University shows that the Fair Pricing Act could lead to $213 million in savings directly to patients through lower out-of-pocket expenses. While these savings are just a drop in the bucket for massive hospital systems making billions in revenue, it gives working people a real chance for some much needed relief.
This legislation is thoughtful in its scope too. Safety net and public hospitals are exempt from the Fair Pricing Act, ensuring that providers who care for our most vulnerable populations are protected, and that patients continue to have access to care near them, while allowing the bill to only target the unnecessarily high prices in hospital systems that have large market share and significant reserves.
The opportunity to make healthcare more affordable and accessible is right in front of us. I sincerely hope that on behalf of the millions of New Yorkers who struggle with the rising cost of care our lawmakers can work together to pass the FPA so it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg just to fix them.
Pastreich is president of 32BJ SEIU, the largest property service workers union in the nation.