New York Universal Health Care Options Campaign
For release May 2, 2005
Contacts:
Mark Dunlea, Hunger Action Network, 518 434-7371
Physicians for a National Health Program - Capital District, PaulSorum@cs.com
New York Universal Health Care Options Campaign
Assembly Health Committee to Vote this Week on Universal Health Coverage Commission
Senate Republican Introduces Similar Proposal
ALBANY, NY � Members of the New York Universal Health Care Options Campaign praised recent actions in the Assembly and Senate to expand quality, affordable health care to all New Yorkers through the creation of a Legislative Commission on Health Care Coverage.
On Tuesday, the New York State Assembly Health Committee is expected to approve a Commission proposal (A6575) introduced by Assemblymember Richard Gottfried (D � Manhattan) and endorsed by forty other Assemblymembers. A related Commission bill (S4928) has been introduced by Senator Marchi (R � Staten Island).
Five years ago, the Assembly and Senate created Family Health Plus, covering over 450,000 low-income working families in New York. Last month, the General Assembly in neighboring Vermont passed a universal health care-oriented proposal dubbed �Green Mountain Health.� Earlier this year, Maine�s landmark �Dirigo� health plan took effect, providing affordable coverage to thousands of uninsured residents. Last year, Illinois passed its �Health Care Justice Act� setting underway a two-year process of public debate of health care reform, and earlier this decade, California�s �Health Care Options Project� stimulated renewed Legislative action to expand health insurance coverage.
�The recently-adopted state budget state established a new �Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century�, and charged it with making recommendations for �right-sizing� the state�s health care delivery system,� said Mark Dunlea, Associate Director of the Hunger Action Network of New York State. �What�s also needed now is a complementary process to look at the insurance side of the equation so that New Yorkers not only have places to go for quality services, but also a way to afford them.�
Many policymakers acknowledge that resolving the problem of lack of insurance is critical to the success of restructuring New York�s health care system. Many of the hospitals with the biggest financial problems are those serving the poorest communities with the highest number of uninsured patients.
Every year, 18,000 Americans die prematurely because they don�t have health insurance, according to a comprehensive report by the National Academy of Sciences� Institute of Medicine. Since they receive inadequate health care and their major illnesses are diagnosed too late, the uninsured become sicker and die sooner. For instance, uninsured women with breast cancer have a 30 to 50 percent higher risk of dying than women with health insurance.
The current system for providing medical care to the uninsured drives up healthcare costs for everyone else. When the uninsured do receive care, it is often at hospital emergency rooms and urgent care clinics�costly and inefficient places to provide primary care. Nationwide, facilities that treat the uninsured provide nearly $100 billion in healthcare services each year. To pay for unreimbursed costs, these facilities have to increase costs to public and private insurance programs, driving up rates for everyone.
Assemblyman Gottfried�s legislative commission bill, currently with 40 sponsors, calls for a series of statewide hearings, independent cost-benefit studies of various public and private sector-based approaches to providing health care to all of New York residents, and would also examine how to control health insurance costs for small businesses and the self-employed. Senator Marchi�s bill is less specific and calls for a legislative commission to assess the extent of uninsurance in the state and to develop proposals for the state to conform to provisions of Section 3 of Article 17 of the state constitution. Both the Assembly and Senate Commission bills would allocate $500,000 for the work of a commission.
�Health insurance costs are too big a crisis for too many New Yorkers, businesses, churches, school districts, and local governments for the Legislature to avoid any longer coming up with comprehensive, cost-effective solutions, added Lou Levitt, Co-convenor of Rekindling Reform. �Passing an on-time budget for the first time in two decades is merely the first step in reforming the Legislature�s operations � now it�s time to take up important policy matters, like how to best assure good health coverage to all New Yorkers. There are workable commission bills introduced by majority members in each house, and we urge leaders to now resolve any differences and move a shared bill forward before they adjourn for the year.�
Assemblyman Gottfried�s commission proposal has previously been endorsed by more than 250 organizations, including the NYS Nurses Association, NYPIRG, Physicians for a National Health Program (NY Metro), Rekindling Reform, Hunger Action Network of NYS, 1199 SEIU, Housing Works, Capital District Area Labor Federation, Community Service Society, American Medical Student Association (Albany Med and Cornell), Rochester Interfaith Health Coalition, ES2, SENSES, NASW NYS, UJA Federation of NY, Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, Public Health Association of NYC, Professional Staff Congress (CUNY), Congress of Senior Citizens, Metro NY Health Care for All Campaign, Western NY Health Care Campaign, NYS Health Care Campaign, Citizen Action, and SCAA.