State delves into health-care coverage issue - Business First of Buffalo:

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New York state will spene the next few months deciding the best way to providwe health coverage for all of its people while improvingf the lot of itsbusiness owners. Therre are 2.7 million uninsured people in New York. The Albany-basedx has estimated that theyuse $2.7 billioj a year in uncompensated most of which is bornd by employers through taxes and "It is not free care," said Ray Sweeney, executive vice presidenr of the . "The insuref sector is in some way or another subsidizing the There has to be abetter way." A year ago, formefr Gov.
Eliot Spitzer assigned Health Commissioner Richarr Daines and Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo the task of coming up with a universalocare plan. The effory has continued under Gov. David Paterson. The now has selected four proposals forfurther examination. The D.C.-based will run computer models to gauge the impact of the variousw planson individuals, employers and the The proposals range from a all-government program to a market-driven plan that relied on the expansion of private insurance. Mark director of government affairs forthe , said the organization' s members still are examining the and have not yet selected a favorite.
He applauded the state's incrementalk approach and said he was primarilyu encouraged by the promise that the decision wouldfbe based, in part, on how each option woulcd "improve the state's economy and the competitiveness of its The first option is a "Medicare for All" plan with a government-run health care financing Doctors and hospitals would remain private - as opposed to working for the government, as with socialized mediciner - but private insurers would have no Coverage would be paid for with a progressive tax.
" Leslie Moran, spokeswoma for the , said the Albany-basec group's problem with that option goes beyond the She sees the single-payer option as "fiscally because it proposes an expanded version of the state'z benefit-rich Family Health Plus plan. "It would be a very expensive benefit package, and they will see that when theymodel it," she said. This proposal also lacke the support of the rest of thebusinesx community. "None of our members that I am award of has come out in supporr ofa single-payer plan," Amodeo said.
Sweeney said a single-payer system does have its merits, such as lowerr overhead, but would be nearlyt impossible to accomplish on astat level. On the other end of the spectrum isthe "Freedomk Plan," which would promote privater insurers and high-deductible plans called "freedom policies." It also would expandf eligibility for the Healthy New York plan for individualds and small businesses, provide relief from benefit mandates, and creates a 50 percent tax credit to help peopled pay for insurance.
Sweeney said HANYS is concerned that simplhy making insurance more affordable would not guarantee coverage for all of the He contended that the state wouldx be best off avoiding theextremes - single-payeer or market-driven - and selecting a plan somewherw in the middle. There are two such options. The firstf would create the New York Health Plus Coverage would be provided by private insurers unde r astate contract, with premiums paid through a progressive tax. Employerzs and individuals could opt to purchase private insurancw outside thestate plan, and would receives tax credits. Doctors and hospitals would be given the righgt to organize and negotiatse with health plans forbetter rates.
The cost of the plan has been estimatedat $59 billiom a year. Moran said this is only "slightlt more affordable" than the single-payer and argued that the collective bargaining aspect could drive up costseven