My campaign to represent New York’s Fourth Congressional District has prioritized the basic needs of voters of Nassau County. I have repeatedly heard from Latino voters about the issues that matter to them. One of their most pressing concerns is runaway healthcare costs and how they upend family budgets.
Latino families are working hard so they can achieve the American Dream. My grandfather lived that dream – he immigrated from Italy, and, working on a Town garbage truck, he was able to support his family and even have some breathing room. But rising healthcare costs make that dream seem like a distant fantasy to many Latino families.
Crushing premiums and prescription drug costs ruin monthly budgets. Higher uninsured rates force families to delay short-term care, resulting in higher long-term costs. And low-cost options for many uninsured residents in our district, like community health centers, are insufficiently funded.
In response, I developed a specific, multipronged policy plan to address the sources of these high healthcare costs: in Congress, I will push to rein in premiums and prescription drug prices, reduce the uninsured rate, and support our community health centers. Everyone deserves the economic security that my family had, and reducing healthcare costs will help get us there.
To reduce premium costs, we must permanently extend the enhanced healthcare tax credits, set to expire in 2025. These crucial cost-saving measures reduce premium payments for people enrolled in federal marketplace insurance, including 10,000 residents of this district. In 2024, with the tax credit, NY-04 residents with marketplace coverage saved an average of $2,840 in premiums – more than half of their average yearly payment of $5,100. But insurers begin setting their rates on these plans as soon as spring 2025. In Congress, one of my first priorities is to seek the immediate renewal of these enhanced premium tax credits. I will work quickly to ensure coverage is affordable for 2025.
High healthcare costs also result from drug companies’ prescription price gouging. The federal government has sat back for too long as Big Pharma has unfairly raised costs on people who manage chronic conditions. Many of these conditions, like diabetes, disproportionately affect the Latino community. We made crucial progress when the Inflation Reduction Act finally authorized Medicare to negotiate prices for prescription drugs, penalize drug companies that unfairly raise prices, and cap the cost of insulin for seniors. But there is more work to do. In Congress, I will make insulin more accessible by supporting the bipartisan Emergency Access to Insulin Act to deliver insulin in crises and promote market competition to lower its cost. I will also strengthen enforcement to crack down on corporate price gouging by big pharmaceutical companies and other corporations hiking gas and grocery prices.
Too many Long Island families, particularly Latino families, do not have any healthcare. Along with putting one’s health in jeopardy, being uninsured costs more in the long run. Nearly 29,000 residents in New York’s Fourth Congressional District do not have health coverage, including nearly 5,000 children. To expand coverage options, I would pursue a Medicaid buy-in program. This policy would allow states to open up Medicaid for anyone to buy in, as Medicaid can often be a more affordable option than marketplace insurance. This would both expand coverage and increase healthcare affordability for working families.
Finally, I would invest in the underfunded institutions that provide crucial, low-cost care to many residents in our district. Community health centers deliver affordable primary care to many residents. There are six in Nassau County, and they are primarily in Latino neighborhoods like Freeport, Hempstead, and Roosevelt. In Congress, I would support bipartisan measures to invest in community health centers in order to expand dental and mental health services. And sadly, our safety net hospital, Nassau University Medical Center, is the sole emergency room option for uninsured residents in New York’s Fourth Congressional District. It has been plagued by 9-figure deficits. I will work to assist state and local officials to improve and preserve care at NUMC.
If one works hard, one should be able to live the American Dream. That is what all families believe and deserve. Out-of-control healthcare costs are devouring hard-earned income and putting threatening that Dream. In Congress, I will work to lower monthly costs, expand coverage, and improve crucial care centers that serve the Latino community. In doing so, we’ll come closer to making that Dream a reality.
(*) Laura Gillen is the Democratic nominee for the General Election on November 5th to represent New York’s Fourth Congressional District.
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