Single-payer health care is the solution for N.Y.

Joel Tyner

Valley Views

Thanks to Dutchess County legislators Francena Amparo, Giancarlo Llaverias, and Nick Page for signing this letter below I circulated Jan. 22 for a single-payer health care solution to our state budget -- join Dr. Len Rodberg of NYHCampaign.org for our forum at noon Saturday, Feb. 10 at the Family Partnership Center at 29 North Hamilton St. in Poughkeepsie:

"We strongly urge you to pass and sign into law state-level single-payer healthcare reform to save $45 billion annually, phase in a fossil-fuel-free future to save $36 billion annually, and legalize marijuana to save $1 billion annually in order to balance our state budget, make sure our public schools, universal pre-K, child care, after-school programs, and summer jobs for at-risk youth are fully funded, our school property taxes are completely eliminated, new living-wage infrastructure jobs are created, free contraception is made available to all, and our elections are publicly funded here as in Maine and Arizona to end the influence of special interests.

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As the Alliance for Quality Education recently noted: "New York currently ranks 49th in the nation on equity in education spending; Governor (Andrew) Cuomo's proposed budget fails to fully fund the Foundation Aid formula and fulfill the State's obligations under the Campaign for Fiscal Equity and is not enough to prevent classroom cuts across the state, with a record spending gap between the wealthiest and poorest school districts. Governor Cuomo had many revenue options to choose from that could have generated billions in needed revenues - recapture taxes on Donald Trump's tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires and on corporate pass through income - but he chose to leave these options on the table."

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the Fiscal Policy Institute, because of too many politicians of both parties focused primarily on slashing progressive income taxes in New York State over the last four decades for their wealthy campaign contributors, regressive local property and sales taxes have skyrocketed. It's gotten so bad that currently households here in Dutchess County and across the state making $35,000 a year pay 12 percent of their income in state and local taxes while millionaires pay only 8 percent of their income in state and local taxes -- because back in the early 1970s, millionaires used to pay over a 15 percent state income tax rate; they now pay 40 percent less.

A single-payer universal health care plan would save New Yorkers a net of $45 billion a year in healthcare expenditures, according to Gerald Friedman, chair of the Economics Department at UMass Amherst. 98 percent of New York state households would pay less than they do now and 200,000 jobs would be created due to the savings accrued by business; $71 billion would be saved in the first year of single-payer here:

$26.5 billion eliminating private health insurance administration and profit;
$20.7 billion reducing medical practitioners' administration of insurance claims;
$2 billion eliminating employer administration of health insurance benefits;
$5.4 billion reducing fraudulent billing;
$16.3 billion capturing savings from overpriced drugs and medical devices.

Fact: Converting all of the state's energy sources from natural gas, coal, and fossil fuel to wind, water, and sunlight by 2035 would save $36 billion annually across New York State, creating 4.5 million new green construction jobs, 58,000 new green jobs, saving 4000 lives annually as well, stabilizing electricity prices, reducing power demand by 37 percent, according to a well-respected 2013 Cornell/Stanford report.

Joel Tyner is a Dutchess County Legislator representing Clinton and Rhinebeck and a Democratic candidate for the 41st district state Senate seat.