Credit: Getty Images.

We don't know what Donald Trump and Congress will do to Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and other health programs, but they will almost certainly reduce funding and access to care for patients and health care providers.

Health care for all of us — rich or poor — will be endangered. If a hospital loses Medicare or Medicaid funding, or if ACA changes mean more patients can’t pay their bills, the hospital will be forced to cut back on personnel. Even the wealthiest patient arriving with a heart attack will get care that is stretched thinner – leaving them more likely to die.

New York will either have to fill those gaps at the state level or let people and our health care providers suffer.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

There’s already an answer on the table in Albany: the New York Health Act, which would provide comprehensive coverage to every New........

© Times Union