For thousands of families in New York, the Essential Plan meant peace of mind. A program that gave nearly 1.7 million people health insurance in the United States, with no monthly premium, no deductible, just small co-pays. But after H.R.1 appeared, that feeling of safety left without saying goodbye.
The law is cutting $7.5 billion in federal funding every year, which is a dramatic amount. Because of it, now, around 450,000 New Yorkers are going to loose it, these are people that depend on this coverage. Governor Kathy Hochul wants to bring back a Basic Health Program to hel with the situation, and this will keep 1.3 million people insured. But it’s still not enough, especially when nearly half a million will loose coverage.
In the United States, poverty is a big problem; many families are already choosing between food, rent or medicines. The three together? Not an option for some. And that loss is way more than devastating.
Who is going to be left behind
It’s still not crystal clear about the numbers loosing coverage yet. But a huge amount of people don’t qualify for Medicaid, and they can’t also afford private insurance. So they’re are going to be affected. And this is all happening already, it started on last September 10, when the state asked for public opinion, and it will go on until October 10, 2025. If the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approve, then the new program will begin July 1, 2026.
State Health Commissioner James McDonald said that “Even with these steps, too many New Yorkers, nearly half a million, will lose affordable health coverage and be forced to choose between keeping food on the table and paying their medical bills.”
The people who will loose coverage will get a 90 days’ notice and apparently, help through a special enrollment period. Said like this every sounds in order, but truth is that for those families reading the letters, 90 days won’t be enough to magically get the money to pay the ensurance they haven’t already been able to pay for years. They will be getting an enrollment period, not a new and better paid job.
The true effect on real lives
Without zero-premium coverage, choices become harsh in the everyday life. Some might skip tehir children check-up to rent instead. Others, might start taking their pills half of the time to stretch them for a longer period.
The Essential Plan was created to prevent exactly this. The programme will cover people earning up to 250% of the federal poverty level. This made it possible for low income families to gel medical help, and with the H.R.1 bill, a lot of that progress is will be gone.
This also affects directly the Clinics and Hospitals with more uninsured patients, meaning, more unpaid bills. Health care providers are warning about the damage is not only going to be to the patients, the local economy is going to get hit too. With shorter hours, jobs will disappear, community programs will get smaller, and neighborhoods already struggling in this economy will lose even more stability.
Health is one on the most important and fundamental pillars of life, if we don’t have access to it, many other pillars will go down to; jobs, economy, mental health, and the list goes on.
What it really means
The bill tries to “ensure” the country by cutting budgets here and there to use them “where they’re needed the most”, but isn’t health one of the most important then?
If you think you’re one of the affected, keep an eye on the news, explore other options like Basic Health Program, Qualified Health Plans or insurances mixers, get all the info you can and participate in the public opinion period, because yours is important.