COMMITTEE ON HOUSING, PLANNING & GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS JOINT WITH
COMMITTEE ON GENERATIONAL, CULTURAL & ETHNIC DIVERSITY (GCED)
AND COMMITTEE ON FAMILY, HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES (FHHS)
MEETING MINUTES: APRIL 17, 2007, 10:00 AM
IN ATTENDANCE:
HPGO Members: Chair: Leg. Lois Bronz; Leg. Vito Pinto; Leg. William Burton; Leg. Bernice Spreckman. Committee Coordinator: Barbara Arrington Dodds
GCED MEMBERS: Chair: Leg. Bernice Spreckman; Legislators: Jose Alvarado, Lois Bronz, William Burton, Ken Jenkins, George Oros and Vito Pinto. Committee Coordinator: Rose Vinci
FHHS MEMBERS: Chair: Leg. Judy Myers; Legislators: Martin Rogowsky, Tom Abinanti, William Burton, Lois Bronz and Ken Jenkins. Committee Coordinator: Melanie Montalto.
OTHERS: CEO: Andrew Neuman BOL STAFF: Andrea Ettere, Joanne Sold, Rick Reynolds and Neal Rentz; HEALTH: Dr. Jonathan Lipsman; Statewide Senior Action Council: Priscilla Bassett, Paul Widowski; Citizens for Universal Health Care: Arthur Richter.
ITEM FOR DISCUSSION: Universal Health Care
With quorums present, Leg. Spreckman called to order the GCED Committee; Leg. Bronz called to order the HPGO Committee; Leg. Myers called to order the FHHS Committee.
The following made presentations: Arthur Richter – Co-Chair, Citizens for Universal Health Care; Priscilla Bassett – V.P., Statewide Senior Action Council, Paul Widowski – Director, Statewide Senior Action Council and Westchester County Legislator Tom Abinanti (“An Innovative Approach to Health Care for Everyone – King County, Washington”).
ARichter: Advocate for eliminating Medicaid and going into a single payer system/single collection system. Spoke about how insurance company rates have increased 4x over the cost of living and how much revenue they generate for themselves. Universal Health Care would be more cost effective and wants to see legislation and public support for HR676. He would like to see Universal Health Care on a national level.
PBassett: Proposes to extend and improve Medicare for all, there are many plans that exist but single payer ones have an economical advantage, Ulster and Sullivan Counties have already passes resolution for single payer system support. The big issue is financial and it’s important for counties to take the lead (they are required to pay 25% of Medicare)
PWidowski: Spoke about problems with health care and who it affects, state solution is not going to work due to dysfunction in Albany which is controlled by pharmaceutical firms, unions, etc. Spoke about benefits of Medicare, risks and funding. He is willing to come back for a Q&A discussion at a later date.
TAbinanti: Power point presentation on health care system utilized by King County, Washington. The county figured out that it’s more cost effective to provide good healthcare for its employees. King County formed a healthcare alliance that many businesses and county government joined. The more participating members, the less expensive it is. Their goal is to give as much healthcare, as possible, with the lowest cost. It’s not Universal Health Care but the concepts are worth looking into.
BSpreckman: This is a peoples issue not a political one, we need to inform and educate. We need to draft a resolution, similar to that of Sullivan County.
A Resolution in support of HR676 is being prepared to bring before committee at next meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 11:30AM.
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