Creates a health care financing commission

9 Co-sponsors

• Martin Malavé Dilan
• Thomas K. Duane
• Ruth Hassell-Thompson
• Liz Krueger
• George Onorato
• Kevin S. Parker
• John L. Sampson
• Malcolm A. Smith
• Toby Ann Stavisky

Title of bill

An act to create a health care financing commission

Purpose

To create the New York State Health Care Financing Commission

Justification

There are over 2.5 million New Yorkers currently without any type of health insurance. That is approximately 13.2% of the state's population. The problem of the uninsured is one of America's biggest health challenges. The number of the uninsured is continuing to grow for a variety of reasons, As the economy has weakened, more people have become unemployed and lost their health care coverage. Millions of Americans lost their health insurance benefits due to job loss. Also, health care costs are rising at double-digit annual rates which makes health coverage increasingly unaffordable for both employers and consumers. Too many families do not have access to affordable health insurance and they live sicker and die younger as a result. It is becoming increasingly clear that incremental reforms to address this problem are not effective. The objective of the health care financing commission will be to create a detailed proposal for a unified financing system for health services for all New York State residents through a plan that emphasizes comprehensive health care including preventive and long-term care, quality of care, choice of provider, and cost control. The commission is directed to conduct town hall meetings and other types of community meetings in order to engage all concerned groups in a discussion about health care financing. The commission will also demonstrate the economic feasibility of the proposal compared with a continuation of the current situation and will devise a funding mechanism which is adequate, efficient, and fair. The funding mechanism should be dedicated to health care and kept separate from the state's General Fund. The results of the commission's activities will be reported within 24 months and a proposal will be submitted to the legislature within 30 months.

Legislative history

2007/2008 - S.728 Remained in the Senate Committee on Finance 2005/2006 - S.1376 Remained in the Senate Committee on Finance 2003/2004 - S.3371 Remained in the Senate Committee on Finance

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

Immediately.