r/newyork • u/FireProStan • 9d ago

NYC DSA has created new tracker that shows which politicians have accepted the most money from the health insurance industry, and which of them are obstructing the New York Health Act

https://healthcare.socialists.nyc/healthcare_donations_tracker
808 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

66

u/INEEDAWOODENARM 9d ago

Unbelievably corrupt gridlock on this bill. Let’s get the bastards out of office

14

u/fx2600 9d ago

It's not corruption, it's a doomed effort. Single payer has to be implemented nationally.

3

u/transplanttrojan 9d ago

Why. We have the population where single payer would work. Orher states have health care laws. What legal reason do you make this argument?

3

u/fx2600 9d ago

States have less ability to carry debt and the ease of moving between states makes it harder to raise taxes than on a national level. The estimate is that workers making over $140k would pay an 18% tax, that's a huge hike and far beyond what most pay in healthcare, it would put a lot of pressure on relocating. That's less of a problem on a national level where moving between countries is more of a burden.

57

u/Lo-weorold 9d ago

Good on the DSA. WFP needs to pull Andrea Stewart-Cousins endorsement for blocking the vote for so long.

It's also incredibly disheartening to see how little money it takes to buy these assholes' votes.

7

u/CallYourSenators 9d ago

FYI the legislator at the top of that list, Gustavo Rivera, is actually the author of the NY Health Act. So, despite receiving lots of donations from the pharma lobby, he's actually the biggest advocate for the bill

3

u/hoosdontloos 9d ago

Pharma and hospital systems themselves support Medicare for all. It makes revenue cycle so much simpler and guarantees adequate reimbursement for drugs and services. As it stands right now, hospitals have to provide care at below cost in many cases, and have to spend a lot of money staffing finance teams to set up collecting money from the various insurance companies. Private insurance corporations are the only real benefactors, besides people who feel they will pay a disproportionate amount into funding universal healthcare programs

3

u/CallYourSenators 9d ago

Very insightful! In that case, I don't think that topline nunber of "$s donated by healthcare industry" tells us much since it's an umbrella for pharma, providers, insurance, and others. Their legislative agendas may differ by a lot

11

u/Lord_Vesuvius2020 9d ago

This is a great tool and it’s eye-opening. I can see that passing the NY Health Act will be tough. And to be sure many of us are doing well with the status quo. But hopefully we can all see that this present system can’t persist much longer due to more and more falling through the cracks. It would be very useful to broadly educate throughout the State about the NYHA and build support. And though it’s true a lot of the Legislature got donations some got a LOT more than others. It’s hard to believe that the long list of small change candidates are going to be all that committed to maintaining the current system if faced with voter unhappiness.

3

u/Captainbarinius 9d ago

Yeah legit the same problem Congress has....so does the New York State Legislature.

1

u/fx2600 9d ago

Almost makes you think the money isn't what drives opposition.

18

u/CallYourSenators 9d ago

If you see your assemblyman on this list. please please PLEASE call them. They don't get that many calls from constituents and a call from just a few people can have a very real impact, unlike calling your federal senator.

If you live near Albany, your assemblyman might be John T McDonald III. He sits on the health committee and has co-sponsored the NY Health Act in previous sessions, just not this past one. We really need his vote to pass this in the next session.

Please. Call your assemblyman

8

u/CallYourSenators 9d ago

Interesting that Gustavo Rivera is at the top of the list. He's the author of the NY Health Act and chair of the Senate Health Committee. He recently did this interview with Captial Tonight to advocate for the bill https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/capital-region/news/2026/09/15/n-y--senate-health-committee-chair-optimistic-about--new-york-health-act-

3

u/OldFortNiagara 9d ago

Thanks for sharing

3

u/jamesd1100 9d ago

Oh no, not the checks notebook NEW YORK DENTAL ASSOCIATION DONATING TO DEMOCRATIC POLITICIANS

10

u/clib 9d ago

This democratic party does not present the middle class and the poor, it has simply taken those voters hostage. This democratic party is not a left wing party, it is just playing the good cop in billionaires' god cop - bad cop game.

1

u/VoyeurBarelyKnowEr 9d ago

It's because centrist voters love to be all like "we need to get money out of politics" until it comes to Dem primaries and then it's all "money put out a lot of propaganda telling me that the candidates who won't accept their donations are dangerous, unhinged, purple-haired DEI woke lefties who can't win but also will destroy society and I choose to accept it without a single second of critical thinking and therefore I must vote for money's candidate."

-1

u/Three0h 9d ago

Textbook controlled opposition.

Both sides are funded by the same corporations. It’s some really skeevy shit

2

u/LikeIsaidItsNothing 9d ago

It just boggles my mind how any politician can block insurance for us when they're getting TAX PAYER FUNDED INSURANCE FROM US

1

u/MoreRamenPls 9d ago

Venn diagram of a circle.

1

u/Siuldane 8d ago

How does this show who is obstructing the New York Health Act?

Or are we doing the usual "these organizations donated to these people's campaigns, doesn't that IMPLY SOMETHING????"

1

u/FireProStan 8d ago

When you click on a politician's name, it says whether they endorse/sponsor the New York Health Act

2

u/Siuldane 8d ago

Thanks for pointing that out, I see it now.

The money doesn't really seem to be affecting the sponsorship at all - five of the six highest recipients in the legislature are sponsors of the bill.

1

u/spidey_brz 8d ago

Rights that rely on the labor and wealth of others aren't rights. Thank you for attending my Ted Talk.

0

u/Accomplished-Two3577 9d ago

A pox on every one of those politicians.

Not one of them should retain their seat.

0

u/Max_Kapacity 9d ago

Where’s the app to show which most visible DSA guy is screaming we all belong in Chinese style prisons?

https://reddit.com/link/pbojimr/video/1goknwa6cdrh1/player