Title
Dept/ Agency: Office of the Mayor
Action: ( ) Ratifying (X) Authorizing ( ) Amending
Type of Service: Declaration by the Mayor of the City of Newark, Ras J. Baraka and the Municipal Council
Purpose: Support of the Medicare for All Act of 2021 (H.R. 1976)
Additional Information:
The Municipal Council and Mayor of the City of Newark supports and urges Congress to enact emergency legislation to provide universal, comprehensive health coverage with zero cost-sharing for patients during this crisis and enthusiastically supports the Medicare for All Act of 2021 (H.R. 1976) and calls on our federal legislators to work toward its immediate enactment.
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WHEREAS, every person in City of Newark deserves high quality health care and everyone's health is at risk when our neighbors cannot receive care; and
WHEREAS, the number of Americans without health insurance before the COVID-19 pandemic was near 30 million, still with more than 40 million Americans underinsured, despite important gains made since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act; and
WHEREAS, ?the current COVID-19 pandemic has led to record levels of unemployment, loss of employer-sponsored health insurance, a severely strained health care system, widespread illness, and taken a profound toll on our community's mental health, all of which is placing significant demands on our health care system with the impacts most severe on our Black and Brown neighbors; and
WHEREAS, ?many people delay seeking needed health care due to an inability to pay?, leading to a sicker and poorer population in the long run; and
WHEREAS, such a population is significantly more likely to develop serious illness if exposed to COVID-19 and will subsequently face higher mortality rates from the disease; ?and
WHEREAS, without new strategies, the never-ending rising costs of health care further challenge our already strapped municipal budget and our sma...
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