Zaniya Project: Plagiarize This!

If the Zaniya Project Task Force members find they've spent so much time reading the Madville Times that they might not be able to produce their final report by their September 30 deadline, I encourage them to plagiarize -- oops! um, I mean, study and borrow liberally from, with proper citation -- New York Assembly Bill A07354 (view the summary and the full text), a state single-payer health plan primarily sponsored by Assemblymember Richard N. Gottfried. (Props to Mrs. Madville Times who finds time in the midst of mommying and organizing to moonlight in the Madville Times Policy Research Division!)

The bill says that in New York, a state of 19.3 million residents, 3 million are uninsured and 3 million are underinsured. Section 5108 of the bill says this single-payer plan would cover, among other things, regular medical services, lab tests and imaging procedures, home care, rehab services, prescriptions, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, dental, vision, and hospice care (beats my private plan with Assurant already).

The plan would be funded by combining existing Medicare and Medicaid funds, a 10% payroll tax (paid either entirely by the employer or on an 80-20 employer-employee split), and an unearned income exceeding 50% of adjusted gross income. (Quick: take you monthly health insurance premium, divide by your monthly income, and compare percentages. Right now, Mrs. Madville Times and I pay 9% of our gross monthly income for a health insurance policy that gives us much less coverage -- e.g., $7500 family deductible, no maternity, dental, or vision -- than what the Gottfried bill proposes.) Gottfried claims the bill could actually save New York $5 billion in administrative overhead.

Expand access and save money? Hmm, sounds like A07354 aligns perfectly with the Zaniya Project's mandate. I welcome the task force's more in-depth analysis of this plan, but the back of my envelope suggests that if we scale the plan down to South Dakota size... hmm, let's see... 780,000 South Dakotans, divide by NY's population, multiply by $5 billion... we could save $200 million in administrative costs (perspective: the state lottery contributed $120 million to the state coffers in FY2007). Plus, more people get health care, workers stay healthier and happier and contribute more to the economy, employers see a cost-saving single-payer plan and flock to the state... that's good policy! Now's your chance, Zaniya Project: swing for the fences!