Dear Friends,

There’s an exciting new campaign that gives New Yorkers an opportunity to advocate against unfair health care practices. Any New Yorker can get involved in the campaign by visiting the website. The Community Service Society has created We the Patients NY to allow people to share their frustrations with the health care system and organize around potential solutions.

The four main planks of the campaign are:

• One Visit, One Bill—Hospital bills are too confusing. For one visit you may receive separate bills from the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, the pharmacy, etc. When you go to a restaurant, you don’t get separate bills from the waiter, the chef or the kitchen crew, so why do hospitals do this? For one visit there should be one itemized, timely, easy to understand bill.
• No Facility Fees—A “facility fee” is a meaningless charge that supports the overhead of the hospital or ambulatory care facility. While legal, facility fees are billed on top of your hospital or doctors’ bill. A facility fee is not a health care service—it is just an overhead charge to generate hospital revenue.
• Stop Surprise Bills—New York has a law that protects you when you go to a hospital that is in your health insurance plan’s network but, for example, you get billed for by a doctor in the hospital who is out-of-network.  However, the law doesn’t protect you from an out-of-network hospital emergency visit or ambulance ride. It doesn’t protect you when your health plan or doctor incorrectly tells you that they are in-network. We need to fix this.
• Better Dental Coverage—No explanation needed. Am I right? Let’s get rid of long waiting periods and high administrative costs.

Not only can you join these campaigns, you can start your own on this website. And there’s a great resource section on price transparency tools that can help you.

The website encourages patients to share their stories and even upload questionable medical bills to shed light on troublesome billing practices. The Community Service Society, which helps thousands of New Yorkers enroll in coverage and dispute medical bills annually, will also provide a training institute for individuals to learn how to present their issues to politicians.

As David Sandman, President and CEO of the New York State Health Foundation said, "We have a health care affordability crisis, and it's not getting better. It's getting worse. Individual consumers often don't have the resources, influence or networks to have their needs and preferences met," Sandman said in a statement. "We the Patients NY will give consumers a powerful platform to make their voices heard." 

There’s never been an easier way for consumers to get involved in the health policy conversation! Please make use of this wonderful new resource. Join a campaign, upload your medical bills, start your own campaign or get trained to be an advocate. This is your chance to be a part of the first health care consumers lobby in New York state!

Yours in good health,

Renata Marinaro, LMSW
National Director of Health Services

Do you work in performing arts and entertainment and have questions about health insurance? The Actors Fund provides assistance nationally. Contact our regional office closest to you to speak to a counselor.

New York City
917.281.5975

Los Angeles
855.491.3357

Don’t forget to use the resources section of our website. It contains tools to help you make decisions about your health insurance, including new online tutorials on how to choose providers and how to read an Explanation of Benefits. In addition, you’ll find an updated Stage Managers National Health Directory, our national online directory of health care providers recommended by industry professionals that can be used by theaters and touring companies. For these resources and more, visit actorsfund.org/HealthServices. You can also find out more about enrollment assistance and upcoming health insurance seminars near you!