Union support is essential in the efforts to pass the New York Health Act. Lawmakers listen to labor leaders and public sector unions in particular hold a lot of political power. While many unions such as the NY State Nurses Association, 1199 SEIU, and UAW are strong advocates and supporters of the NY Health Act, our elected officials say they need to hear more. Union members must work from within their unions to bring more of them over to supporting the bill.

Below is a list of resources for rank & file union members.

Take Action

• Sign the Open Letter to Labor Leaders & Lawmakers to #PassNYHealth
• Contact Tool: Urge your NYS Senator & Assembly Member to #PassNYHealth - call, email or tweet

Flyers

• Labor Union Flyer (English)
• Labor Union Flyer (Spanish)
• Half-sheet & ink-friendly Labor Union Flyers for printing here

Fact Sheets

• Response to UFT Unity Caucus attack on the NY Health Act, May 2025
• Detailed Explainer of the NY Health Act Legislation Provision

General Info About the NY Health Act available here.

Cross-Union Labor Groups Organizing to #PassNYHealth

• CROC: Cross Union Retiree Organizing Committee
• Labor Activists For NY Health Google Group Listserv
• Rank+File4NYHealth - Linktree | Google Group Listserv | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Gmail

TAKE ACTION TODAY: CLICK HERE to urge your NY lawmakers & leadership to #PassNYHealth - the New York Health Act (A1466/S3425).

New York Health Act Basics

• What is the New York health Act?
  • The New York Health Act is state single payer legislation that will provide comprehensive, universal healthcare for everyone who lives -or works- full time in New York, replacing existing private insurance company coverage. You and your healthcare providers determine the care you need. New York Health pays the bill. This plan is similar to Medicare — but far better because it provides comprehensive care, including dental, mental, hearing, gender-affirming & Long Term Care, and truly covers everyone, including undocumented immigrants.

    With the New York Health Act, ALL New Yorkers will automatically have their healthcare covered by a public statewide fund, regardless of age, employment, immigration status, disability, race, gender, or financial means. Everyone will have free healthcare the way everyone is covered by our public fire department, libraries, and schools – public services provided without ever having to worry about a bill or medical debt.

    Our campaign has dramatically increased support for the bill, passing it in the Assembly in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. In 2022, we achieved majority support in Albany and we continue to have a majority of NYS Senators and Assembly Members signed on as current co-sponsors of the bill.
• Bill text in full is here.
  
• Bill text, bill numbers, committee status, and current cosponsors in the NY Senate here and NY Assembly here.
• Current bill numbers for the 2025-2026 term A1466 / S3425.
• Key Points About The NY Health Act here.
• Visit the Campaign for New York Health www.nyhcampaign.org
  
• Watch & share the PIISD explainer video & more below.

FAQ about the NY Health Act <<< Get answers to the most frequently asked questions about the bill.

.
Q&A with author of the bill, Richard Gottfried!

Still have questions about the NY Health Act? Ask the author of the bill!
How to contact retired Assembly Member & Assembly Health Committee Chair, Dick Gottfried:

• • Step 1: Review the FAQ, Resources & Reports listed on this page including the Fact Sheets linked at the bottom of this page.
  • Step 2: If none address your questions, ask your questions here.
  • Step 3: Get your answers here!

ORGANIZING RESOURCES for the NY Health Act

• Take Action Tool for contacting lawmakers - Use & Share: bit.ly/Action4NYHA
• Join our NY Health Act Working Group: State Legislative Advocacy Working Group (SLAWG)
  You do NOT have to be a healthcare worker to organize with us! Sign up here.
• Social Media - Find & follow us for current actions:
  • Linktree | Bluesky | TikTok | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
  • WhatsApp NYHealthAct Community & Subgroups
  • Social Media Toolkit
• Share Your Healthcare Story! Story Share Guide
• Sign & share the Doctors Petition to #PassNYHealth
• Flyers / Handouts / One-Pagers
  • Healthcare Affordability Crisis Flyer
  • Insurers Profit Flyer - General Purpose NY Health Act Flyer (double-sided half-sheet)
  • Labor Union Flyer (English) & Labor Union Flyer (Spanish)
    • Half-sheet & ink-friendly Labor Union Flyers for printing here.
  • Fact Sheets (click to jump to list at bottom of this page)
• Resolutions
  • NYC Council Resolution

REPORTS:

Economic Analyses of the New York Health Act

• • Economic Analysis of the New York Health Act, Rodberg, Updated 2021:
    Summary here. Full report here.
  • RAND Study of New York Health Act, 2018: here
  • Friedman Analysis of the New York Health Act, Gerald Friedman, 2015: here

Reports on the New York Health Act

• • Healthcare and Racial Justice: Systemic Change Is Needed for a More Equitable Health System
    • Released April 4, 2022 by the Campaign for NY Health and the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus
      
    • Report available here and Executive Summary here.
  • From Coverage to Care: A People's Report on Healthcare in New York State
    • Released in 2019
    • Report available here and Executive Summary here.

VIDEOS

Watch the new HEALTHCARE CONSPIRACY mockumentary short film featuring cameos by Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, Senator Jabari Brisport, retired Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, Cynthia Nixon, and MORE.

More about the film here: www.healthcareconspiracy.com

PIISD Video Explainer Animation

A Burning Question: What if fighting fires was for-profit, like our healthcare?

Webinars

Below: New York Health Act Town Hall, January 2024, with Dr. Betty Kolod, Assembly Member Dick Gottfried, and MORE-UFT leaders

Below: National Health Insurance: A Post-Election Grand Rounds Webinar (2017) by Ed Weisbart, MD, Chair PNHP - MO

More webinars are available on PNHP NY Metro's Vimeo Channel, and PNHP NY metro's YouTube Channel, and on National PNHP's Youtube Channel

More Films & Documentaries

FIX IT: Healthcare at the Tipping Point
Watch a powerful documentary that reaches across the political and ideological divide to expand support for major healthcare reform.

Why We Need The NY Health Act
4-minute play by Roberta Pikser

FACT SHEETS

Archived Presentations
Past Forums

The New York Health Act is legislation introduced by Assembly Member Amy Paulin and Senator Gustavo Rivera in the New York State Legislature. If passed, it will implement a universal, single-payer health care plan that will cover all New Yorkers and eliminate co-pays, deductibles, and skyrocketing premiums. Click here for more New York Health Act Info & Resources
.

How can you help? 
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Send A Weekly #WakeUpCall4NYHA to #PassNYHealth!

Contact your NYS Senator and Assembly Member and leadership WEEKLY. Urge them to cosponsor if they have not. If they are a cosponsor, ask what they are doing this week to educate their constituents and colleagues, and how they are working to pass the bill.

Sign the Doctors Petition

All future, current and retired physicians, resident physicians and medical students are encouraged to sign our Doctors Petition to illustrate the scale of physician support for the New York Health Act.

Sign the Everybody In Petition

Your help is essential in building the mass movement needed to show the legislature that New Yorkers are unified in our demand for a universal, single-payer plan for New York State.

Union Members: Sign the Rank+File Open Letter to Union & Legislative Leaders

All rank & file union members, current and retired, are invited to add your nam to the open letter urging union leadership & New York state lawmakers to endorse and work to pass the New York Health Act now.

Endorse for Your Organization, Business, or as a Faith Leader

Send a strong message to Albany that we are serious about making healthcare a right in New York State!

Join Our State Legislative Advocacy Working Group (SLAWG)

You, your family, and community members are the key to winning the NY Health Act! Join SLAWG & our other working groups to participate in organizing to pass the NY Health Act. No experience needed and all are welcome. 

Request a Speaker

PNHP NY Metro provides expert speakers to discuss the NY Health Act at all types of events, in person or on Zoom.

NYS Additional Legislative Priorities

Learn More & Take Action

Donate here today to fuel the movement for New York Health Act and Medicare for All! 

Send a WEEKLY #WakeUpCall4NYHA to your lawmakers to tell them to #PassNYHealth!

CURRENT + UPCOMING EVENTS:

In chronological order

NEW MEMBER INTEREST MEETUPS

Monthly on Zoom
RSVP: bit.ly/MemberInterestPNHP

If you are new to PNHP NY Metro or have been a supporter for some time and want to get involved in the work of our Chapter, we invite you to attend a Member Interest Meetup! Open to all - you do not need to be a physician or healthcare worker to join in our organizing.

Watch Dr. Roona Ray's speech at the 2025 NYC May Day Rally to Stop the Billionaire Takeover

Watch our Press Conference from our 2025 Lobby Day to #PassNYHealth!

UPCOMING FORUMS TBA ABOVE!

Please sign up here for our email list for announcements
on upcoming forum dates, topics and more!

Learn more about the New York Health Act here after watching the PIISD video below!

Fed up with for-profit healthcare?

Join our #MedStoryMonday campaign featuring stories from health workers, students and patients in support of the NY Health Act & Medicare for All!

Physicians, nurses, midwives, dentists, residents, public health workers and students, medical students, doulas, home care workers: we want to hear from you!

CLICK HERE for examples and CLICK HERE to share your story today to be featured in a #MedStoryMonday quotegraphic!

Recent Online Educational Forums

CLICK HERE for videos and information related to our past forums:

• October 2024 Forum: Segregation in Healthcare
• September 2024 Forum: The 2024 Election and the Fight to Protect and Improve Public Medicare and Medicaid On The Path to Healthcare for All
• May 2024 Forum: On The Rise: Doctors Unionizing & Organizing for Single Payer
• April 2024 Forum: All Means All: Coverage for Immigrants and the Fight for Universal Healthcare
• March 2024 Forum: New York Health Act Town Hall Lobby Prep
  
• February 2024 Forum: Community Care in Crisis: NYC Hospital Closures & Consolidation
• January 2024 Forum: New York Health Act Town Hall
  
• October 2023 Forum: Educate, Liberate, Elevate: Youth Justice Through Healthcare
• September 2023 Forum: Organizing to Build Support for the NEW New York Health Act
• May 2023 Forum: The Fight for LGBTQIA+ Rights and the Struggle to Expand and Guarantee Care for Every Body
• April 2023 Forum: Film & Forum: American Hospitals
• March 2023 Forum: The NY Health Act + Our 2023 Health Policy Package: Preparing for Lobby Day
• February 2023 Forum: Delivering Birth Justice: Why is giving birth in the US so dangerous and costly, and what can we do about it?
• January 2023 Forum: New Year, Renewed Resolve: Building the Local and National Movement for Healthcare for All
• December 2022: A Celebration of Assemblymember Richard Gottfried & the New York Health Act
• November 2022: Indigenous Peoples’ Health: Inequities, Innovations & Lessons 
• October 2022: NYC Administrative Code 12-126: What is it and what would Amending it Mean for NYC Public Employees?
• October 2022: How Private Equity Makes US Sicker
• September 2022: Environmental Justice is Health Justice: Exploring the Relationship between Environmental Health Advocacy and Single Payer
• May 2022: There is NO Health Care Justice without Abortion and Repro Health Justice!
• April 2022: Legislative Focus: NY Health Act and Ending Medical Debt - Preparing for Lobby Day
• March 2022: Why US Prescription Drug Prices are Too High... and How to Treat It
• February 2022: Privatizing Medicare Part II: How it Really Works
• January 2022: Privatizing Medicare: Impacts on Patients and Doctors
• November 2021: Single Payer: Everyone Has a Role to Play
• September 2021: Activism as a Health Professional Student: Finding Ways to Join Local Efforts
• June 2021: NYC Plans for Medicare Advantage
• May 2021: Substance Use and Single Payer: Connecting the Dots
• April 2021: Why Hospitals & the People They Serve Should Support Single Payer & the NY Health Act
• March 2021: Achieving Healthcare for All: The NY Health Act for a Just COVID Recovery
• February 2021: Invest In Our New York: Education, Housing, Food, Jobs, & Health
• January 2021: Unequal Treatment: The Unjust Death of Dr. Susan Moore
• November 2020: COVID-19, Long-Term Care, Single-Payer & the Elections
• June 2020: COVID Capitalism and the Fight for Health Care Justice and Societal Transformation
• May 2020: Combatting COVID & Building Resilience: Health, Jobs, & Homes
• April 2020: The Roles of Racism & For-Profit Healthcare in Pandemic Response Failures

Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) advocates for a universal, comprehensive single-payer national health program. PNHP has 22,000 members and over 50 chapters across the United States.

Since 1987, we've advocated for reform in the U.S. health care system. We educate physicians and other health professionals about the benefits of a single-payer system--including fewer administrative costs and affording health insurance for the 30 million Americans who have none.