Editorial: Health-care idea worth considering

Any proposal that relies on a whopping tax increase would seem destined for the political dust bin.

But an idea being proposed by Richard Gottfried, chairman of the Assembly's health committee, deserves an airing.

Gottfried wants to create a $59 billion health insurance program that would cover everyone in the state. He's convinced that the state could do it cheaper than private insurers, even though paying for it would most likely result in a huge tax increase.

Nevertheless, Gottfried says, New Yorkers - and those who employ them -- would pay less in the long run.

He might be right. Insurance premiums have skyrocketed in recent years. With every re-enrollment period, businesses and employees find themselves paying more and getting less. Private business and industry are being squeezed dry by rising premiums and employers are forced to pass on costs to employees.

Meanwhile, lucrative public contracts, such as those found in some school districts, find a large percentage of teachers' health benefits being funded by taxpayers, some of whom have no health insurance themselves.

Something has to be done, and Gottfried thinks a state-managed plan could be the answer. He acknowledged it would have to be paid for by new taxes, but he said he believed residents would wind up paying less under his plan than they pay now in insurance premiums and deductibles. His office estimated that the current system costs New Yorkers and their employers $63 billion per year.

Many questions remain. Such a plan would be the largest state-run health program in the nation, and universal health care is no panacea, especially when funding relies on a hefty tax increase. And any time there's mention of a tax increase - especially one of such magnitude - it's certain to fall beneath a shroud of skepticism.

But the current system is putting health care out of reach for more and more New Yorkers. If allowed to continue, it'll become unaffordable, not only for the working poor, but for more and more middle income wage earners.

Last week, Gov. Eliot Spitzer said he'd commission an independent research group to help develop a plan for universal health coverage, and he welcomed Gottfried's proposal as a "valuable option" worthy of future study. It's worth considering.