2026 Lobby Day to #PassNYHealth

Approximately 250 of you attended our training and flooded into Albany with us on Tuesday, March 17th for our 2026 Patient, Healthcare Worker, Resident, Student, and Advocate Lobby Day to #PassNYHealth to demonstrate your support for this transformative, lifesaving, long-overdue legislation.

YOU are the heart of our growing movement for the New York Health Act; equitable, universal, single payer healthcare and health justice, and your advocacy is essential to building the public pressure needed to win!


Photo: Supporters fill the Million Dollar Staircase for the Albany Rally to #PassNYHealth

PNHP NY Metro, alongside over 50 allied organizations, healthcare workers, union members, and fed up New Yorkers from across the state, rallied in Albany and met with lawmakers to urge them to pass the New York Health Act (A1466/S3425) this session — as the only viable solution to adequately protect New Yorkers from the healthcare affordability crisis causing 1/3 of Americans to skip meals, medications, and other essentials, the cruel healthcare cuts being pushed by the Trump administration, and the rampant insurer and pharma corporation greed that threatens the lives and financial well-being of patients.


Photo (left to right): Lana Leonard, Gustavo Rivera, home care activist, Cameron Clarke

Thank you to our rally and press conference MCs, Dr. Betty Kolod MD MPH, Board Chair of PNHP NY Metro, Cameron Clarke, and Manish Kumar PNHP NY Metro Medical Student Fellows and our featured speakers:

State Senators: Jabari Brisport and Gustavo Rivera

Assembly Members: Amy Paulin, Anna Kelles, Dana Levenberg, and Stephen Raga. 

Speakers: Alex Le, a PNHP NY Metro UHLAFer and member of Committee of Interns and Residents-SEIU; David Alexis, of NY Communities for Change; Jon McFarlane, of NY Caring Majority; Joy Montague, of 1199 SEIU; Lana Leonard, of ACT UP Trans Working Group; Mowaz Alvi, a PNHP NY Metro UHLAFer and member of NYPIRG; Vinny Cinque, a Care Coordinator and Advocate for his family in Long Term Care.


Photos (left to right): Manish Kumar, Joy Montague, Mowaz Alvi, Jon McFarlane

🍎 CLICK HERE to read and share our Lobby Day press release.

🍎 CLICK HERE to watch the recording of our rally and press conference in Albany, filmed by Morgan Moore. Our incredible lineup of speakers spoke to the threats against, and care needs of, New York's diverse communities, including our immigrant, HIV+, transgender, unionized, disabled, birthing, student, senior, and poor community members, and elaborated on the urgency of passing the New York Health Act.

🍎 CLICK HERE to see many more wonderful photos of Lobby Day with BIG THANKS to our official documentarians, Jeff Mikkelson and Trey Patton.

If you attended and took photos or videos during Lobby Day, please share them with us! Email [email protected] for assistance.

🍎 SHARE, LIKE & COMMENT to BOOST our Lobby Day social media posts and tag us in your Lobby Day posts:


Photos from the Press Conference & Rally for the NY Health Act and a Lobby Meeting with Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (not yet cosponsor)

GRATITUDE!

A huge thank you to everyone who had a hand in planning, coordinating, extending invitations, leading teams, speaking at the press conference, documenting, and contributing financially to helping in making this day a great success!

Organizing & Prep Team: Anthony Cheesebro, Ashley Fox, Betty Kolod, Cameron Clarke, Crystal Reyes, Dan O’Connell, Ekua Ansah-Samuels, Erl Kimmich, Hunter Nash-Glickman, Joseph Patrick, Katherine Mella, Kim Graybeal, Manish Kumar, Morgan Moore, Patrick Haley, Ronald Harrison, Shairi Turner, Steve Auerbach, Vinny Cinque, YuLing Koh Hsu

Team Leads: Ali Greenberg, Andrew Sullivan, Anuva Goel, Ashley Fox, Betty Kolod, Cameron Clarke, Christine Sotmary, Danny Lugassy, Evan Woo, Jeff Mikkelson, Jonathan Donnelly, Maia Schlechter, Manish Kumar, Mriganka Nerkar, Ron Harrison, Sinam Ward, Steve Auerbach, Vinny Cinque

Thank you to all our fellows in the Universal Healthcare Legislative Advocacy Fellowship (UHLAF) and activists who researched legislators in key districts, honed and practiced their healthcare story, led lobby meetings, and organized phonebanks to invite additional participants.

And a special THANK YOU to YuLing Koh Hsu, our UHLAF Director, for all their incredible organizing efforts in lead-up, and supporting remotely on Lobby Day, that made the day possible.

THANK YOU to our 2026 Lobby Day Cosponsors:

ACT UP NY, Albany Progressive Action Network, Campaign for New York Health, Citizen Action of New York, Cross-union Retirees Organizing Committee (CROC), CPHS Commission on the Public's Health System, Committee of Interns and Residents SEIU (CIR SEIU), Defend Public Health NYS, Doctors Council SEIU, Green Party of New York, Health Justice for New York, Housing Works, Hudson Valley Demands New York Health, Indivisible NYCD16/15, Indivisible Tompkins, JFREJ, Lower Hudson Valley DSA Healthcare Working Group, Mekong NYC, Metro Justice, Metro New York Health Care for All, MORE UFT, National Association of Social Workers - New York, New York Caring Majority, New York Communities for Change, New York Doctors Coalition, New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), New York State Academy of Family Physicians, New York State American Academy of Pediatrics, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), North American Climate Conservation and Environment (NACCE), NYS Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, Northwest Bronx Indivisible, NYC DSA Healthcare Working Group, NY Progressive Action Network (NYPAN), Our Bronx (formerly NWBCCC), PEER, Rank+File4NYHealth, Residency Program in Family and Social Medicine at Montefiore, Rise and Resist, Strong Economy for All, Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP), SNaHP - Stony Brook Chapter, SNaHP - SUNY Downstate Chapter, SUNY Empire Disability & Accessibility Club, Troy Indivisible, Turn Nassau Blue, Ulster Activists, 1199SEIU, 1199 Workers for Justice


Photos from a Lobby Meeting with Sen. Jamaal Bailey (cosponsor) and the March for the NY Health Act

Your generous donations allow us to continue to do this important work.

PLEASE CONTRIBUTE HERE, if you can, towards
transportation costs and to fuel the ongoing fight! 

New York's Democratic leadership in the Assembly and State Senate must act swiftly and boldly to protect New Yorkers from attacks on our immigrant, transgender, disabled, and senior community members, our public health agencies, research funding, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, abortion, bodily autonomy, and our public healthcare programs, Medicare and Medicaid.

We must keep up - and increase exponentially - the pressure on our lawmakers to break through the political cowardice and inertia that is holding New York back and harming our health.

SO WHAT'S NEXT??

THE ORGANIZING CONTINUES UNTIL WE WIN!

  • SAVE THE DATE: STATEWIDE ORGANIZING CALL TO #PASSNYHEALTH – APRIL 14 @7:30PM – RSVP HERE

  • Send Your Lawmakers A Weekly #WakeUpCall4NYHA to #PassNYHealth! CONNECT HERE. Suggested messages provided.
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  • RSVP HERE for our next New Member Interest Meetup on Zoom this Thursday, March 26th, 6:00PM to 7:00PM. Learn more about PNHP NY Metro, share your experiences, and get involved! All are welcome, you don't have to be a doctor or healthcare worker to join.
  • Check our website home page for upcoming events!
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