This column, from the weekly opinion piece MATTER OF FACT, first appeared on BrooklynReporter.com, the Home Reporter and Spectator dated February 18, 2022
Ellen Bilofsky worked tirelessly, giving her time to her community and to causes she supported. In recent years, she devoted a great deal of energy to advocating for the New York Health Act. A longtime resident of West Midwood, Ellen passed away six months ago after battling brain cancer. During her final months, while fighting cancer, she also had to devote energy to fighting her insurance company.
Ellen was committed to doing everything in her power to create a system in which no New Yorker would ever need to spend their final days pleading with their health insurance provider to get necessary care without it bankrupting them. Ellen had to do just that for herself in her final months.
I knew Ellen through organizing efforts and events in Brooklyn over the past four years. My interactions with her revolved around causes we both supported, one of those being the passage of the New York Health Act. One of the first times I met Ellen in the real world was when I volunteered alongside her at a Borough Hall forum for the New York Health Act hosted by then-Borough President Eric Adams on November 19, 2018. Her dedication to fighting to make the world a better place was unmistakable.
Ellen was a mother who continued to advocate for quality, equitable public education long after her two children were grown. She gave her time to organizing efforts in support of reproductive rights, organized labor, and social justice. She worked for over two decades at the American Foundation for the Blind and was also a founding member of South Central Brooklyn United for Progress.
“Healthier New Yorkers, unburdened by what we all recognize as an onerous system currently, will mean a healthier state, both medically and economically.”
Citation….
This past Wednesday, February 16 would have been Ellen’s 71st birthday. On that day, friends, colleagues, fellow community members, and elected officials took to social media to remember Ellen by doing what she would have wanted them to do: call for the passage of the New York Health Act once and for all. Senator Andrew Gounardes, Assemblymembers Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, Robert Carroll and Jo Anne Simon, Councilmembers Rita Joseph and Farah Louis, and District Leaders Julio Pena and Doug Schneider were among the many who shared their thoughts of Ellen and advocated for the cause she was most dedicated to in her last years.
The New York Health Act is currently in committee in each chamber in Albany. Versions of the legislation have been in that status since 2015. It is terribly unfortunate that Ellen did not get to see New York pass this historic legislation, but it is time that it finally moves forward. Senator Gustavo Rivera is both the lead sponsor of the senate bill and the chair of the Senate Health Committee. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz chairs the Assembly Codes Committee and is a co-sponsor of the bill. They need to make this legislation, which is already sponsored by more than half of all members of each chamber, a top priority for their committees.
The New York Health Act would ensure equitable access to health insurance as a human right. Guaranteeing quality health care to all New Yorkers will not only improve our lives, but it will drastically reduce medical costs in the state, save people from overwhelming medical bills, and free individuals up to make decisions on where they choose to work or whether they start a small business, without feeling as if they are forever tethered to their employer for medical benefits that may keep them from going bankrupt but often deny services that are necessary.
Ensuring medical, dental, vision, hearing, prescription, long-term care, mental health treatment, and reproductive care for all, without restrictive networks, would not only reduce costs at the state level, but most New Yorkers would pay less out of pocket in the new plan compared to what they currently pay in premiums, co-pays, co-insurance, and deductibles. Healthier New Yorkers, unburdened by what we all recognize as an onerous system currently, will mean a healthier state, both medically and economically.
In light of the pandemic, it is clear how needed the New York Health Act is. It would have made a tremendous difference these past two years. We need to finish Ellen’s fight and shepherd the New York Health Act across the finish line in this legislative session.
