William Nagel, Esq. Political Director, Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local Union No. 1, NY and BAC Local Union No. 7 (Tile, Marble & Terrazzo), Matthew D. Loeb, International President, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (I.A.T.S.E.), John O’Malley, Legislative Coordinator, Local 1180 Communications Workers of America (CWA), Dr. James Parrott, Senior Advisor and Senior Fellow, Center for New York City Affairs at The New School.
Teamsters Local 237 is part of a new coalition aimed at reforming the funding for New York’s Health Care Reform Act (“HCRA”). This coalition of unions and other stakeholders is united in a fight for a fairer, more equitable healthcare funding system in New York State. On April 23, Local 237 joined with other unions for the official unveiling of the coalition’s “HCRA” Revenue Reform proposal. The Coalition’s proposal entails the repeal and replacement of the HCRA revenue system, which is currently scheduled to sunset in April, 2026– and thus requires reauthorization to continue as is. The coalition’s strategy is to use this opportunity to adopt proposed legislation repealing the existing stealth taxes and replacing them with broad-based revenues.
 Richard Winsten, Esq., lobbyist with the firm State & Broadway, which helped organize the HCRA Coalition. |
HCRA, first implemented in 1997, provides for many important public goods such as Indigent Care. However, these broad-based public goods are funded through hidden, targeted taxes imposed on our health benefits. A system of surcharges and regional covered lives assessments apply to most hospital, diagnostic treatment center, and ambulatory surgical center claims incurred in New York, regardless of patient residency.
The HCRA revenue system punishes union benefit funds and other providers of health benefits while rewarding employers who provide no health benefits – they pay nothing at all! These taxes are obscure, which has allowed the legislature to raise them 14 times. HCRA taxes are now the fourth-largest source of revenue to the state behind the income tax, sales tax, and corporate franchise tax, accounting for over $7 billion in state revenue last year.
At the event, in which Mattew D. Loeb, International President of the I.A.T.S.E., served as Master of Ceremonies, panelists from multiple sectors and industries discussed the strain that HCRA taxes place on our health benefit funds and on collective bargaining agreements. HCRA insurance assessments and surcharges add approximately $440 per person to the cost of private health coverage, or $1,760 for a family of four. These taxes amount to about 4.3% of an employer’s total health benefit cost per year, while employers who provide no health benefits pay nothing! Even benefits government provides to public workers are taxed! NYC alone is taxed approximately $400 million annually by the State for its over one million public employees and their families. Every other municipality, public authority, and layer of local government is impacted.
As a matter of principle, NYS corporate franchise taxes (which have been significantly reduced over the past several years) and other broad-based taxes are the proper vehicles to shoulder the costs of HCRA’s broad-based public goods. As a result, private employers who do the right thing by their workers will see a reduction in their tax burden, and public sector employers would see their HCRA tax burden eliminated entirely.
The Coalition for HCRA Revenue Reform is taking its first public steps to advocate for the elimination of hidden HCRA taxes, reducing the burden on responsible employers, and ensuring quality care for working families. Teamsters Local 237 President Gregory Floyd said: “I welcome the opportunity to participate in a coalition dedicated to taking early and decisive action to address the unequal and escalating costs of healthcare. Our members shouldn’t be saddled with hidden costs and those gaming the system. Nobody likes a freeloader.”
