At a time when deficits in the newly approved U.S. Tax Act have already initiated cuts in Medicare to pay for its extravagance to the rich, the need for local initiatives to address health care is becoming more and more urgent.

Our state has legislation already written and already vetted by experts to give us back what the federal government is taking away. The bill is the New York Health Act — universal health care, paid for by a single payer, and it will cost 98 percent of New York residents less than they pay now.

Read the full letter at The Riverdale Press.