SMALL BUSINESS MAJORITY & ACS CAN: The small business and cancer care case for passing A84 to improve NY’s medical leave system
Hon. Carl Heastie
New York State Assembly
Albany, NY 12248
June 9, 2025
Re: The Small Business and Cancer Care Case for Improving NY’s Medical Leave System
Dear Speaker Heastie,
On behalf of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the Small Business Majority, we write to express our strong support for A84 (Solages), which substantially improves New York’s paid family and medical leave system by reforming New York State’s Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) program. This legislation would not only improve the lives of patients battling diseases like cancer but also strengthen New York’s diverse small business community. It has been passed by the Senate and awaits needed action by the Assembly before you adjourn the 2025 session.
Patients Need Time Off for Treatment
Battling cancer is hard. Working full or even part time while undergoing cancer treatment is almost impossible. According to the American Cancer Society, nearly three out of four cancer patients and survivors say they missed work due to their illness and two out of three missed more than a month of work. Making matters worse, more than a third of those who missed work did not receive any pay for the time missed.
Studies show that cancer patients who receive paid leave have higher rates of job retention and lower rates of financial burden. Yet, not all cancer patients, survivors and caregivers who work have access to paid leave. Without it, they risk losing employment or not getting the care they need.
Unfortunately, many cancer patients are often forced to decide between feeding their families and taking time off for treatment due to New York’s woefully inadequate TDI Program. This contributes to the nearly 47% of cancer survivors incurring medical debt related to their cancer treatment. People with cancer often bear significant health care costs because they can have substantial health care needs, are high utilizers of health care services, see many different providers and sometimes require more expensive treatments. They also must pay many indirect costs, like transportation and lodging, while contending with a steep drop in their wages from unpaid time or job loss.
Removing the $170/week cap on benefits for one’s serious health condition, as proposed in A84, and increasing that cap to 67% of the State’s average weekly wage by 2030, would limit that burden and provide cancer patients the critical financial support,
Small Business Owners Want to Offer More Paid Leave
Updating New York’s outdated TDI program would afford New Yorkers a medical leave program they can rely on with a salary range that would match the paid family leave requirements in New York, eliminating confusion for small business owners who are navigating how to implement these two programs. A lack of access to paid medical leave exacerbates current workforce shortages across our urban and rural communities, harming small businesses. As the TDI program currently stands, many New Yorkers– especially those in low-wage positions–cannot afford to take leave under the program and may have no other choice but to leave the workforce.
At the same time, the cost of employee turnover is extremely high for small businesses. The proposed updates in A84 will create a paid medical leave program that not only serves New York workers but also levels the playing field for small businesses that can’t afford to offer this benefit on their own like large corporations can.
In New York, small business owners employ more than 46% of the workforce. As one of our state’s largest job providers, small business owners must be given the opportunity to compete with large employers when recruiting and maintaining their workforce. In fact, our research has found that nearly 80% of small business owners would like to offer more paid leave than they can currently afford, and more than three-quarters (78%) of small business owners say paid family and medical leave boosts employee morale and productivity.
Helping Small Businesses
Paid leave is proven to be good for business. It lowers turnover rates, improves employee morale and overall benefits the bottom line. Yet New York’s paid medical leave program is falling behind. This is a workforce issue, and a lack of access to paid medical leave exacerbates current workforce shortages across our urban and rural communities. The median cost of employee turnover to an employer is 21% of that employee’s annual salary. As it stands, small employers may be faced with the impossible decision to incur these turnover costs or cover their employee’s salary out of pocket while they are out on leave. Either way, the small business owner is faced with a financial burden. An improved paid medical leave program would allow valuable employees to stay in their jobs while they take time to recover from temporary disabilities and serious health conditions at little to no cost to the business owner.
Small Business Majority’s recent polling data shows that small business support for paid family and medical leave has been increasing for years. Small business support for paid leave is bipartisan–among small business owners, 93 % of Democrats, 74 % of Independents, and 72 % of Republicans support paid leave. Also, Black, Latino, Native American and Indigenous, Asian American, and Pacific Islander business owners overwhelmingly support paid leave programs. Strengthening TDI would be an incredible way to support all of New York’s small businesses owners.
A Reasonable Compromise
After more than three decades without any improvements to TDI, this legislation is a reasonable compromise that has strong bi-partisan support including more than ¾ of all Assembly Democrats. As you are aware, the language is the result of discussions with the Assembly, the Senate, the Governor’s office, labor and business leaders, and health advocates.
The bill would provide scheduled gradual increases to the benefit rate for the first twelve weeks of temporary disability over a 5-year timeline, ultimately resulting in a benefit rate of 67% of an employee’s average weekly wage with a maximum benefit of 67% of the state average weekly wage. This gradual phase in over five years gives employers time to adjust while at the same time providing employees an increasingly level of support.
It is important to note that these reforms are affordable. Under this bill, TDI is a shared employer-employee cost, with employers picking up 60% of the cost and employees paying 40%. This is an incredible bargain for employers who, for comparison’s sake, pay zero portion of the cost for their employees to have access to New York State’s Paid Family Leave program. 100% of the cost of that program is paid for by employees.
Equally as important to patients, the bill would provide patients coverage for intermittent leave, as well as protect workers’ jobs and health insurance during medical leave.
A84 would transform New York’s paid medical leave program into one on par with modern paid family and medical leave programs across the country, including those in neighboring states. In New Jersey employees can receive up to $1,025 per week and in Rhode Island up to $1,007 per week. In California employees can receive up to $1,620 per week.
A84 would make a profound difference in the lives of New Yorkers, especially those already living paycheck to paycheck. For the more than 123,000 New Yorkers who will hear the words ‘you have cancer’ this year and every New Yorker who will face a significant medical illness this year we ask you to pass this important legislation.
New York State does not measure up to many of our neighbors, and we must change that to remain a competitive place for entrepreneurship to thrive. For small businesses across the state, this legislation would provide businesses with an unprecedented opportunity to recruit and retain valuable employees and increase productivity without creating significant administrative burdens.
Given the urgent need to update New York’s very antiquated laws related to this program and the major wins that the business community achieved in the final budget, this legislation to support employees and small businesses must be passed this year.
Please support and pass A84 before adjourning for the summer.
Sincerely,
Lindsey Vigoda
New York Director
Small Business Majority
Smallbusinessmajority.org
Michael Davoli
Senior Government Relations Director
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Fightcancer.org/ny
