rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/letter/help-workers-maintain-their-health-coverage?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-letter-area-help-workers-maintain-their-health-coverage' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> New York State AFL-CIO https://actionnetwork.org/groups/new-york-state-afl-cio https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/letters/photos/000/158/953/normal/dreamstime_m_88679430.jpg Workers in the Entertainment Industry have been simply decimated by COVID-19 necessitated shutdowns; many of whom have not been able to work since March. Too often when they lose their employment, so too do they lose their health care. Recognizing the tenuous employment conditions in entertainment, even in non-pandemic times, in 2004, New York created a subsidy to help unemployed workers in the industry maintain their health insurance.   Applicants who are accepted into this program can receive assistance equal to 50% of their COBRA, or continuation health benefits, premiums. Applicants cannot receive more than 12 months of premium assistance in a lifetime. The program works. From 2010 through 2019, the State helped more than 1,150 entertainment-workers keep their health insurance. In addition to maintaining the continuity of their benefits including their current providers, the program ensures that they do not have to turn to government sponsored programs, which would only further shift cost to the public. But given the dire situation faced by these workers during the pandemic, now is the time to do more, and ensure the program can meet it’s growing demand. In the SFY 2021-22 State Budget, the Legislature and Governor should take the following steps to strengthen the program: Restore funding to the program, which has diminished since its inception, to its original funding level of $3.75 million; Ensure that any period of program utilization during the pandemic does not count towards the lifetime cap; Raise the income restrictions on the program; and Extend the program, which would otherwise expire in July. The livelihoods of hardworking New Yorkers in the Entertainment Industry have been impacted like few others by the pandemic. The last thing they can afford is to lose their health care too. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/help-workers-maintain-their-health-coverage