DRAFT
(11/03/04)
New York State Legislative Commission on Universal
Health Care
Purpose: To promote the development and evaluation of
models for universal health care for all New Yorkers while controlling costs and
ensuring freedom of choice for consumers.
Proposal
The
New York State Legislature shall create its own Commission on Universal Health
Care ("the Commission") to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of various
approaches to providing comprehensive, quality, affordable health care to all
New Yorkers. Options to be examined could include, but are not limited to: multi-payer;
single-payer; tax credits; "pay or play" employer mandates, medical
savings accounts; regulatory changes, and extension of existing public insurance
programs and/or pooling arrangement. The cost-benefit studies of the options will
be conducted by independent qualified institutions in response to RFPs issued
by the Commission.
Any universal health care model considered
should:
- Assure access to comprehensive, affordable core benefits, including
preventive, acute and long term health care, for all New York residents and guarantee
to residents multiple choices among health care-providing professionals and organizations;
-
Maintain and improve the quality of health care services offered to New York residents;
- Provide portability of coverage, regardless of employment status;
- Include
cost containment measures and cost analyses;
- Be affordable both by businesses
and individuals.
Any universal health care model that involves
employers shall consider the special needs of small businesses and the impact
of that model on existing labor-management agreements.
The Senate Majority
Leader and Assembly Speaker would each appoint four members; the Senate Minority
and Assembly Minority leader would each appoint one member.
The Commission
shall appoint an advisory board of not more than 30 members to assist them. Such
members shall include: health care consumers, advocates for health care consumers,
health care providers, health policy analysts, organized labor (both health related
and other), business or business trade association, hospital or hospital networks
or associations, insurer or insurer association, economists and disability rights
organizations. Health care providers shall include physicians, nurses, social
workers, psychologists and health care administrators.
The Commission
shall hold two series of public hearings in several locations across the state
in order to receive input from the public and the health care community. The first
series of hearings is intended to obtain the views of state residents with respect
to the health care system as it now stands and the need for improvement. The Commission
shall invite outside experts and organizations to propose models of universal
health care for review prior to issuing RFP's for cost-benefit studies of the
models to be chosen by the Commission as potentially capable of providing comprehensive,
affordable quality health care for all New Yorkers. The second set of hearings
would obtain the views of state residents on the proposals for extension of health
coverage promulgated by the Commission. The work of the Commission shall commence
by September 1, 2005 and be completed by December 31, 2006 with a formal report
to the Legislature and public.
The Commission would receive a budget of
one million dollars for the foregoing work. Funding may be provided through the
New York State budget or the Health Care Reform Act, and be supplemented by foundation
grants and/or the federal government.
