Assemblyman to propose universal healthcare plan

Everyone in the state would be covered

By FRITZ MAYER

NEW YORK, NY — As the Democratic presidential candidates trade barbs about who has the best health insurance plan, a New York assemblyman is planning to introduce one in the state that would greatly alter the way healthcare is paid for.

The plan, from Democrat Richard Gottfried, chairman of the assembly health committee, was scheduled to be unveiled at a Manhattan news conference on December 5.

As part of a release about the plan, Gottfried wrote, “We should build on what works: offer New York’s popular publicly-funded health insurance programs, Family Health Plus and Child Health Plus, to everyone. No New Yorker?individual or employer?would have to pay a health insurance premium or deductible ever again. And people who want to keep their current coverage could do that.”

Gottfried claimed that his plan would save New York businesses over $4 billion of the $63 billion they spend every year on premiums, deductibles and co-payments. He also said one group of employers?school districts and local governments?spends over $8.5 billion a year on health insurance premiums. Under his plan, property taxes could be reduced because schools and local governments would no longer have to pay for those healthcare costs. He said the plan is more comprehensive and less expensive than universal plans offered by other states.

Gottfried envisions that the plan would be paid for through a tax, although those details have not been worked out. But critics are likely to point to a new tax as another step on the road to “socialized medicine.”

Gottfried’s plan differs from those being bandied about by the leading presidential Democratic candidates. Under plans offered by Senators Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama and former Senator John Edwards, large employers would be required to provide insurance for their employees or to pay into a fund to subsidize insurance for their employees. Gottfried’s plan would give employers the option to offer health insurance to employees or not. Although if employees were able to buy better coverage for less cost through the state program, it seems doubtful that companies would continue to provide it, and it is likely that many employers would urge their employees to seek insurance through the state.

Under the plans offered by the presidential candidates, Clinton and Edwards would require everyone to be insured, while Obama would require that adults insure their children. Under Gottfried’s plan, the plan would be open to any state resident or families who wished to join, although they would not be required to join, and the tax levy used to pay for the plan would be progressive, meaning that wealthier residents would be required to pay a higher share of the cost, while poor residents would pay very little or nothing to help pay for the program.