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For Immediate Release: June 11th, 2004 Contact: Contact: Jordan Isenstadt (c) 516.991.3842 (w) 212.490.9535 (f) 212.490.2151 ***PRESS RELEASE*** State Senator Liz Krueger
Renews Call for Universal Single-Payer
Health Care System New York, NY – State Senator
Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) today renewed her call for passage of the New
York Health Plan (S. 3068 – Schneiderman/Gottfried), which would
institute a universal, single-payer health care system. “The current disorganized, commodified
approach to health care is a disgrace,” said Senator Krueger. “Health care should be a fundamental human
right. Why is it that one in every
four New York City residents under the age of 65 is uninsured? Why is it that in 2002, 1.8 million people
in New York City were uninsured and 3 million people were uninsured in New
York State? The time has come to
completely reform our health care system in New York!” Efforts to institute
state-level universal health care programs are cropping up throughout the
country. Some states are focusing on
the initiative process, as in Massachusetts and Washington
state, where a single-payer universal health
care plan qualified for the ballot.
Advocates for universal health care have also found champions within
state legislatures throughout the United States. A number of proposals have been introduced, which are very
similar to the Canadian
health care system. They call for a single-payer system,
meaning that medical care would be paid for out of a single publicly
administered pool of money, rather than by a myriad of managed care
plans. In most plans the health
insurance program would be administered by a health care "trust,"
governed by a combination of stakeholders, including health care advocates,
providers, organizations and experts, taxpayer representatives, and state
officials. Maine is the only state
that has come close to instituting a system that resembles universal health
care. “While many states have managed
to push universal health care initiatives to the legislative level,” said Senator
Krueger, “the fact is that we need the Federal government to institute a
nation-wide system of single payer, universal health care.” The proposed
establishment of the New York Health Plan, a uniform and universal benefit
plan, would be extended to all New Yorkers while also reducing expenditures
and controlling health care costs.
The plan achieves savings through the consolidation of health care expenditures
under a single, publicly financed, insurance program. Such a program eliminates more than $5
billion in administrative waste, including excess insurance company
administration and costs of billing and collecting for hospitals, physicians
and other health care providers.
According to Public Citizen, over 30% of all health care costs are
administrative. The plan will provide
increased stability to New York's hospitals, freeing up resources for patient
care. The savings would be used to
finance increased health care coverage for the over 3 million New Yorkers -- 19% of the state's residents -- lacking coverage, and the millions more with
inadequate coverage. Funds could thus
be targeted for primary and preventive services, training of health care
workers, and to enable physicians to set up practices in inner city and rural
communities. “The New York Health
Plan is a comprehensive piece of legislation that seeks to address the needs
of those who lack health insurance coverage, as well as the needs of the
growing number of New Yorkers who are frustrated with the coverage they
presently have,” stated Senator Krueger.
“An important aspect of the proposed program is that it will
effectively end the era of influence that powerful insurance and pharmaceutical
lobbyists have enjoyed. According to
a recent report by Common Cause/NY, in 2001, pharmaceutical companies spent
more than $1.4 million lobbying New York State lawmakers and according to the
Center for Responsive Politics the insurance lobby spent over $1.6
million. It has become abundantly
clear that our present system of health care simply does not function in a
manner that is beneficial to the people it is supposed to serve.” “The
current crisis and chaos in health care provides both the motivation and the
opportunity for New Yorkers to develop a health care system that meets the
needs of all people,” stated Senator Krueger. “The health care system is full of inefficiencies, inequities,
waste, fraud, and abuse created by having allowed health care to be
converted into a mere commodity in the marketplace. It is time for the people
of New York to insist that the state government fulfill its responsibilities
and take control of health care delivery.” -30- |
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