Spitzer Wants to Bring Health Care to More New Yorkers

The NY Times reports that Governor Eliot Spitzer is working on an "ambitious and potentially expensive push to expand health coverage to nearly three million more residents." With 15% of the state's residents uninsured, universal health care was one of Spitzer's campaign promises last year. He has also openly criticized the state's health system, saying billions of dollars are pumped into a "broken system with no deliverables and no accountability."

According to the Times, Spitzer's administration has been studying others states' experiences with expanding health care. The Governor said, "We’re being practical and pragmatic rather than making a sweeping rhetorical flourish." Public hearings are planned starting in August, and his administration will start asking consulting companies to look at various coverage programs. Naturally, there are many challenges: The State Senate would need to approve the many steps it would take to develop a plan and New York has many "more low-income and uninsured residents and a smaller percentage of employer-sponsored insurance programs than Massachusetts," which has a wider health care plan, has.

Some more details about how Massachusetts' attempt to expand its health care program has spurred other states to do the same from the Congressional Quarterly. And Spitzer discussed health care reform in his state of the State: "...within four years, we will further cut the number of uninsured. Using a new streamlined enrollment process that guards against fraud, we will enroll the 900,000 uninsured Medicaid-eligible adults."

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By Jen Chung in News on July 11, 2007 8:24 AM

Comments [rss]

rodney

I agree guest, it is the costs for us normal middle class people that are out of control. It is the health care lobby that continues to misdirect public attention and political capital towards those "unfortunate" uninsured people while the real masses suffer.

guest

Another feel good story from the Democrats. How about tackling the real problem - escalating costs. Don't hold your breath though. It's much easier to spend more money on programs that won't do much good. Many uninsured are either eligible for Medicaid or other programs and don't sign up or don't bother signing up at work because they don't want to pay for it and figure they are healthy. The number of uninsured in the US is pegged at 45 to 50 million but it would be half that if people took advantage of programs in existance.

Now please tackle cost control!

Kojak

Its worth a try, though I wish there was more of a push to make it Nationwide instead of statewide, but these programs always test themselves in the states before they can be taken to the federal level.