Healthcare Access
As someone who lives with a chronic autoimmune illness called Sjogrens, I know how complicated it can be to navigate our broken healthcare system. And as a pregnant individual with a high-risk pregnancy, I found that even with all my access, I had to fight for the care I deserved. Healthcare is a basic human right and it should be accessible to all. In the City Council, I will fight to ensure that everyone can get the care they need.
CITY HEALTH + HOSPITALS (H+H) SYSTEM
Oppose any attempts to cut funding for the H+H system, the largest municipal health system in country, and the essential and affordable programs and services it provides to New Yorkers
Work to increase staffing ratios at H+H hospitals to ensure safe working conditions for healthcare providers and shorter wait times for patients
Provide additional resource to the H+H system to increase affordable OB GYN and maternal health services
Increase access to patient advocates and interpreters at hospitals and clinics
MATERNAL, REPRODUCTIVE & ABORTION CARE
Protect and increase funding for the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) that provides crucial data on maternal mortality and reproductive health, and the most at-risk communities
Advocate for the NYC Department of Health to launch a new media campaign to inform New Yorkers of the public reproductive and maternal health services available
Hold fake abortion clinics and crisis pregnancy centers accountable for the harm they cause and the misinformation they spread on reproductive care
MENTAL HEALTH
Increase investment in both in-patient and out-patient mental health services at H+H facilities and lobby the state for increased funding for these programs
Ramp up the Mobile Crisis Team program and increase the number of Crisis First Responders
Invest in more Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Programs to provide emergency psychiatric services and crisis care to New Yorkers in need
OVERSIGHT & TRANSPARENCY
Ensure that the city has the resources and oversight authority to properly scrutinize hospital pricing and demand full pricing transparency, which leads to cost savings for both individual New Yorkers and the city itself
PROTECT RETIREE HEALTHCARE
Stand with public sector union retirees to preserve the Medicare plans they were promised and resist efforts to force them onto inferior Medicare Advantage plans
Support a 30 to 60 day grace period for family members reliant on a deceased municipal retiree’s health insurance to find other insurance coverage