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Letter To The Editor: Bringing Single Payer To New York

Daily Voice accepts signed and original letters to the editor up to 350 words. To send a letter, e-mail cortlandt@dailyvoice.com

Send letters to cortlandt@dailyvoice.com

Send letters to cortlandt@dailyvoice.com

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To the Editor:

Every other developed country offers its people universal healthcare – covering everyone birth to grave — spending half what we spend, with better health outcomes than we have. Our state is uniquely positioned to protect New Yorkers from the ravages of deep cuts to our healthcare, both by Congress and by executive action.

The New York Health Act is one vote away from passing the state senate. New York Health will work for us the way Medicare works for senior citizens. Physicians will practice as they do now, but bill just one payer, NYH, rather than a myriad of private insurance policies, each with different billing codes, rates, and rules. New York Health will cost far less than what we’re paying today — and will make it easier to control costs and root out fraud. This is not pie-in-the-sky theory. We know how much money “single-payer” programs save because we see how they work in other countries. As someone who lived over a decade in the UK, I can vouch for both the level of care and the personal sense of security that comes from living in a country with single-payer healthcare. Similarly, in the US, Medicare’s admin costs 10% of that of private insurance.

NY Health has opponents, of course. Big Insurance and Big Pharma fear losing record-setting profits from the employer market plus the profits from taxpayer-subsidized Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans. Breitbart, Bannon, and Freedom-Caucus supporting billionaires like the Mercers and Koch Brothers fund propaganda machines like the Empire Center. Their mission? To scare Americans about huge tax increases, “big government,” and degraded medical care. They also spend billions on campaign donations and lobbyists. I ask you to stand by Governor Cuomo when he asserts that "Healthcare … is a fundamental right” and consider what motivates those who work to convince others that it is not.

If you have any questions, I urge you to attend Assembly Member Sandy Galef’s “Great Debate” on Healthcare, on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 7-9pm, at the Cortlandt Town Hall Learn more and decide for yourself.

Sincerely,

Patricia Mann,

Cortlandt

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