On Friday, February 8, Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, the Assembly Health Committee chairman, reintroduced the New York Health Act. It would create a single payer, government run health care system to cover all New Yorkers, doing away with private insurance. The latest iteration of the bill includes coverage for long term care, which increases the total cost of the program by an estimated $43 billion. The bill also exempts those who make less than $25,000, which means those making above $25,000 would pay more. What the bill is still missing is a specific tax structure to raise the revenue needed to fund a single payer trust fund.
Click here to read the bill.