Access to Health Care Forum Slated for Long Island on Thursday, November 8, 2007

LONG ISLAND, NY (10/31/2007)(readMedia)-- BALCONY, the Business & Labor Coalition of New York (www.balconynewyork.com), the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org), and the Long Island Federation of Labor AFL-CIO (www.longislandfed.org) announced today that they are co-sponsoring a November 8th forum on access to affordable health care for all in New York State. The Long Island forum features union leaders, small business owners, major corporations, health care professionals, advocates and government officials who are seeking a solution to fixing a health care system that is in dire straits. The event will be held on Thursday, November 8, 2007 from 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at 6900 Jericho Turnpike in Syosset.

At the same time, BALCONY released preliminary findings of a study undertaken by the Fiscal Policy Institute on the health care costs of the uninsured in New York State. The study shows that in 2006, for Nassau and Suffolk counties alone, there were an estimated 287,000 uninsured persons and that the value of uncompensated care and the Medical spending gap was $732 million. This means that the average cost for each uninsured person is $2,500. Included in the calculation is the cost of uncompensated care provided by local Long Island doctors and hospitals as well as the additional medical care which the uninsured need but do not now receive.

“The cost of providing medical assistance to 2.7 million uninsured New Yorkers creates a ripple effect that impacts the entire health care system,” stated Alan Lubin BALCONY Co-Chair and Executive Vice President of the New York State United Teachers. “We must fix a system where the costs of medical care for New York’s uninsured are being paid for by taxpayers and those who are insured in the forms of higher insurance premiums and medical charges."

“It has been clearly shown that people without health insurance do not get screened for breast cancer, prostate cancer and other diseases and as a result get treatment only when the situation is critical,” said Peter Slocum, Vice President of Advocacy for the American Cancer Society’s Eastern Division. “The American Cancer Society is making it a national priority that all Americans and all New Yorkers have health insurance coverage so that we can identify and treat people in the early stages of cancer when the chances of surviving are much greater.”

“Union members are concerned with the cost and possible erosion of the health insurance benefits that protect them and their families,” stated John Durso, President of the Long Island Federation of Labor AFL-CIO and President of Local 388 RWDSU. “We need solutions to the rising cost of health care and coverage, the high cost of pharmaceuticals and the challenges posed by providing care to the millions of New Yorkers without insurance.”

The forum will be introduced by Leah Jefferson, Long Island Regional Advocacy Director of the American Cancer Society. Discussing access to health care from the medical industry’s point of view will be Jeff Kraut, Senior Vice President of Strategy for the largest hospital system and employer on Long Island, the North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System and Dr. Barry Arnold, a local Lynbrook dentist. Joining them will be patients representing the American Cancer Society who will share their experiences.

The importance of health care to union members and labor will be addressed by John Durso, President of the Long Island AFL-CIO, Ruth Antoniades of the Labor Health Alliance of New York, and Ed Kaplan, the health practice leader for the Segal Company.

Business concerns will be voiced by Bill Ehrig, the Director of Governmental Affairs for Yum Brands, a holding company that operates over 34,000 restaurants including Taco Bell, Long John Silver and KFC, Patrick Maas, Senior Vice President, AWMA, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC and by BALCONY Co-Chairman Bruce Ventimiglia, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Saratoga Capital Management, LLC. Mr. Ventimiglia, whose company is based in Garden City, New York, emphasized, “All businesses – not just the largest ones – need to have affordable health care options available to them so that they can provide their workers with health care coverage. It is estimated that over 1.5 million of New York’s 2.7 million uninsured are employed by small businesses in New York. Providing these businesses with health care plans that they can afford will go a long way toward solving New York’s uninsured issue.”

Providing the New York State government perspective will be Kathleen Shure, the Director of the Division of Managed Care and Program Services for the New York State Department of Health, and State Senator John Flanagan (R-2nd District) of the Senate Insurance Committee.

Richard Kirsch, Executive Director of Citizen Action New York will present a summary of the issues and conduct a question and answer session afterwards.

For further details, contact BALCONY Coordinator Lou Gordon at (212) 219-7777 or at loug@balconynewyork.com.

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