Snap Poll: Majority oppose single-payer health care

State Assemblyman Harry Bronson, D-Chili/Rochester, is one of a number of New York Democrats supporting a bill that’s in front of the state Senate Health Committee that would create a single-payer health system for New York.

Bronson promoted the bill at a town hall meeting in Rochester last month.

“It’s shifting it from an employer-based system to a system where we all, in our state, share the cost of health care, for everyone,” Bronson said. “As a piece of that, it’s also a shift from a pay for service model to a model where we pay for access to good health care.”

The bill—which would remove economic barriers to care while allowing New Yorkers to choose their own primary care practitioner—would lead to increased tax rates for New Yorkers. Proponents say the increases in taxes would be outweighed by the amount New Yorkers save on health care expenses. Opponents express concern that the plan would end up costing New Yorkers even more for health care.

“A majority of voters from every region of the state, including New York City, do not want Albany bureaucrats running a health care system that will increase taxes by a mind-boggling $200 billion,” said Heather Briccetti, president and CEO of The Business Council of New York State.

This week’s Snap Poll asked readers about this health care bill. Nearly half—48 percent—strongly oppose the bill.

About 500 respondents participated in the poll, which was conducted June 4-5.

What do you think of single-payer health care in New York?

Strongly support — 27%

Support — 15%

Oppose — 10%

Strongly oppose — 48%

COMMENTS:

Get the government the hell out of our lives. We don’t need overpaid, unknowing bureaucrats messing up the health care system as they do everything else. What is needed is economic-based system, with real competitions and the billing systems cleaned up.

—Jim Weisbeck

We need this in the US. We are so backward in how we treat all of our citizens. Health care is a right for everyone. But business is too classist, racist, greedy and just plain mean to support that idea. Thank you Assemblyman Harry Bronson for sponsoring this bill.

—Eve Elzenga, Eve Elzenga Design

Arguments in favor of single-payer HC systems disregard that the quality of employer and other private payer systems HC will be diminished when such a move is made. Those who work and can afford higher-quality care should be allowed that option. When will our elected representatives agree to accept the same HC system that they try to convince their constituents is in their best interests? In general, the government is not able to provide better solutions to the public needs than a free, competitive economy.

—PJ Lambiase

I think that Medicare (which is single payer) is basically a fairly good health insurance program, especially for low income seniors. Are there problems with Medicare? Of course there are; however, regardless of one’s socio-economic situation, everyone is covered. Think of all the money/salaries that would be saved. For example, I would venture a guess that the executives at Excellus BC/BS total compensation package exceeds $5 million dollars a year. That money would cover an awful lot of people for their health insurance needs. By the way I doubt the executives at Medicare have million dollar salaries. There would be other cost savings as well.

—Peter Bonenfant

Government cannot nor should they control who gets what and when. One only needs to look at National Health in Great Britain. Once the government says there is no hope is that it? What about right to try? No, I have experience with government-run health care in Great Britain and in Canada. Both have folks who can say National Health saved their lives, and both have families that claim Government Health was responsible for the deterioration if not death of a family member. I prefer private health care—period. Too many lobbyists have created incentives for politicians to pass too many laws and rules that hike health care costs. Some regulation yes, but get and keep government out of it.

—Nigel Heaton

Quality health care should be considered a basic human right available to everyone, not just those of us who can afford it. Whether this bill is the ideal plan or not remains a question; however it’s time that the premise gets more action than just dialogue.

—Thomas Schnorr, President, RE/MAX Realty Group and RE/MAX 1st Commercial

Anything that increases New York’s criminally high taxes is a horrible idea. NYS has proven they don’t have any concept of money management, so making them responsible for the health care system would bury us even further in taxes.

—Bill Wyatt

Would take a ton of cost out of the system. We have handed too much power to the insurance companies and their ilk. Time to take it back!

—Dave Vanable

Liberals have been suggesting this move since the beginning of time. Just what we do NOT need: More government interference in our lives, and by the way WHEN was the last time the government did ANYTHING right? They cannot agree on ANYTHING right now! No THANKS!!

—J.A. DePaolis, Consultative Services

Unshackling health care insurance and funding from employment is the right thing to do. In the same way that all taxpayers benefit from publicly funded education (we want to live in an educated society, right?), we all benefit when everyone in our state has financial means for access to quality health care.

—Christine Corrado

“Single Payer” is a terrible idea. Health care run by the government is a terrible idea! Obamacare is/was a dismal failure! Don’t liberals ever learn! If you want health insurance, buy it! If not, don’t. If you want something bad enough you find a way to pay for it. And don’t give me the “baloney” about poor people will suffer. Emergency rooms do not turn injured or sick people away. It just doesn’t happen. They get treated and hospitals and doctors either write it off or paying customers pay more. We New Yorkers already carry an enormous tax burden, NO MORE!

—George Thomas

If you put anything in the hands of NY State, they will find a way to misuse it. You can see by the way they avoid passing an ethics bill that corruption is pervasive in NYS. This would end up costing all of us more money and give us worse health care. It’s just another redistribution of wealth scheme—Obama Care on the state level. Don’t even think about it. This would be a disaster!!

—David Wagner

Health care is the number one expense in our family of three. Over $1,000 a month, plus thousands in high-deductible cost. We have the potential of spending $20,000 a year! It is unsustainable as it currently stands. The system is broken at every level and requires an overhaul. The overhaul starts with the insurance companies, then works down from there.

—Antonino Barbagallo

I believe that single-payer health care is inevitable to provide economical coverage for all citizens and cut out the insurance company fees. A state-run system would have significant management cost and negotiation advantages over federal-run systems such as Medicaid and Medicare.

—Joe Lancaster, Cogenic Mechanical

Heather Briccetti could be absolutely correct that most New Yorkers don’t want government running our health care system. But she is absolutely incorrect in automatically equating “single-payer” with “government run.” We need only look to Canada to see that there are ways to implement a single-payer health system that retain the private aspects of health care. Actually, we can look to the US—we already have Medicare, and that hasn’t led to government-run medical practices and hospitals.

—Maggie Symington

I strongly urge everyone to consider how a “single-payer” health system—I use quote marks because the application of the concept varies around the world—is handled in other countries. One doesn’t need to be a health policy analyst to grasp some of the key aspects. I strongly suggest T.R. Reid’s book, “The Healing of America,” which points out both the pros and cons, and illustrates how countries like Japan, Australia, France, Germany and Canada have shaped “single-payer” concepts to best suit their populations and circumstances. There’s no magic bullet, but evidence shows that all those countries are getting better outcomes for less money. I’m not sure if a state-by-state approach will succeed, but what I do know is that the current system is unsustainable, riddled with waste, and grotesquely unfair to far too many Americans. I cannot say it loudly enough: We all MUST do a better job of educating ourselves about this issue, and stop accepting sound bites and anecdotes—”my friend went to Canada for knee surgery” or a vague slap at “Albany bureaucrats”—as a substitute for knowledge.

—Rose Ericson

Do we really believe that the government will run health care insurance better than the 8,000 employees of Blue Cross who have been doing a great job for 50+ years? I sure don’t.

—John J Cogan, CEO, Vantage Benefits Group, Inc

Too many people think of single-payer care as a political issue, when in fact it’s the logical and inevitable extension of modern and inarguably necessary efforts to “fix” our broken health care delivery system. Health care costs are too high, access is too poor and outcomes are too spotty—all of which are bad for everyone, not just bad for the poor or underinsured. The single-payer model can address all those points—raising taxes to be sure, but with compensatory decreases in payroll deductions and out-of-pocket costs (and, ultimately, increases in population health and quality of life). It’s going to happen eventually; the only question that remains is how much worse we want things to get before we take the leap.

—Erich Van Dussen

Many companies have worked very hard to provide affordable health care for their employees and as part of that wellness programs, bio-metric screenings and incentives have been put into place with good results. New York has too many people who are dependent on the “system” to make this work and in the end it would create a financial and bureaucratic nightmare that we would never get out of, making it even harder to do business in the state.

—Eric Knaak, Isaac Heating & Air Conditioning Inc

Since every other industrialized nation in the world already has single-payer health insurance, I am confident that a group of intelligent people can take the best of these plans to come up with something appropriate to the needs of New York residents. I have seen how well these plans work in Canada and Europe, as well as misinformation about them. Perhaps it is time to catch up with the rest of the world.

—Carlos Mercado

With luck, I’ll be dead before I need to visit Bronson’s office, payola in hand, to beg for authorization to have life-saving surgery! Yet another poorly run government agency overseen by the corrupt political class, staffed by inept and abusive state employees. Beware! Cuomo-nism may be striking another blow!

—Tom Shea