Res 0470-2018

By The Speaker (Council Member Johnson) and Council Members Rodriguez, Espinal, Torres, Grodenchik, Levine, Perkins, Barron, Levin, Eugene, Chin, Williams, Cohen, Kallos, Brannan, Rivera, Powers, Ayala, Cumbo, Lander, Ampry-Samuel, Rosenthal, Menchaca, Reynoso, Constantinides, Richards, Rose, Maisel, Moya, Adams, Dromm, Treyger and Gibson Whereas, New Yorkers have experienced a rapid rise in the cost of health care and coverage in recent years; and Whereas, This increase has resulted in a large number of people without health coverage or with reduced coverage; and Whereas, Despite the more than 4.3 million people acquiring coverage through the New York Health Plan Marketplace as of February 2018, an unacceptable number of New Yorkers have no health coverage, and many more are severely underinsured; and Whereas, According to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2018, New York's uninsured rate was 4.9 percent in 2017; and Whereas, Voluntary and public hospitals, health centers and other providers who care for patients regardless of their ability to pay now experience substantial monetary difficulties due to treating the uninsured or underinsured; and Whereas, Patients and health care professionals are sometimes pushed into medical care decisions based on what the insurance company will cover rather than what patient and provider agree is the best course of treatment; and Whereas, A.4738-A/S.4840-A, sponsored by Assemblyman Richard Gottfried and Senator Gustavo Rivera, would create a universal single payer health plan called New York Health to provide comprehensive health coverage for all New Yorkers; and Whereas, Every New York resident would be eligible to enroll, regardless of age, income, wealth, employment, or other status; and Whereas, Under New York Health, coverage would be publicly funded and there would be no premiums, deductibles, or co-payments; and Whereas, The benefits of the New York Health program would include comprehensive outpatient and inpatient medical care, primary and preventive care, prescription drugs, laboratory tests, rehabilitative, dental, vision, and hearing; and Whereas, A.4738-A/S.4840-A would authorize health care providers to form organizations to collectively negotiate with New York Health and providers would be paid in full by New York Health; and Whereas, The plan would develop and phase in alternative payment methods to replace fee-for-service systems, which incentivize volume but not necessarily quality; and Whereas, New York Health would be paid for through a progressively-graduated payroll tax (supplemented heavily by employers) and a progressively-graduated tax on other taxable income; and Whereas, Federal waivers would be sought that would allow funding for Medicare, Medicaid, Family Health and Child Health Plus to be folded into a New York Health Trust Fund, along with State funds; and Whereas, The single-payer New York Health plan would drastically increase access to health care and improve health outcomes for residents in New York; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on the State Legislature to pass and the Governor to sign A.4738-A/S.4840-A, legislation that would establish the New York Health program, a universal single payer health plan for all New York State residents. CP LS# 7125 5/23/18