The Save Our Safety Net – Campaign (SOS-C) is a broad-based coalition committed to protecting the health care safety net in New York. SOS-C came together around concerns about the Hospital Closing Commission (2005). A series of Principles guide our work. The Principles bind us together in our determination to fight for: access to care for the uninsured, the elderly, and disabled; and to work on the racial and ethnic disparities in access to and outcomes in health care. Our review showed, that at least in New York City, the majority of hospitals had been closed in medically underserved communities. SOS-C worked hard to ensure that the Hospital Closing Commission (Berger Commission) did no more harm and did not propose to close hospitals in medically underserved, low-income, immigrant, and communities of color.
SOS-C is currently working to minimize the damages proposed by Governor Cuomo's Medicaid Redesign Team. The governor proposes to cut $2.3 billion in state funding for Medicaid. We are mobilizing resources to minimize the harm to Medicaid consumers, communities and safety net health care providers.
For more information and resources, go to www.soscny.wordpress.com
Supporter of Health and Hospitals Corporation
CPHS has been a major supporter of NYC's public hospital system, HHC and its efforts to improve quality of care, safety for patients and access to services. HHC hospitals serve a large percentage of Medicaid patients and the uninsured. However, this year HHC has an enormous deficit of over $1 billion that could result in lay-offs, consolidations and closings of services. HHC has already closed 5 Child Health Clinics and a dental clinic, the consolidation of services, the privatization of some services and the lay-off of many workers. CPHS initiated a petition against the clinics closing, developed a summary of the recommendations in the consultant report and have mobilized people to testify about the loss of services.