(COMMON DREAMS) Deirdre Fulton, May 19, 2017 — As the momentum behind Medicare-for-All continues to grow nationwide, New York’s State Assembly on Tuesday was expected to pass a single-payer healthcare bill that puts the state light years ahead of the regressive GOP in Washington, D.C.

The New York Health Act would afford all state residents access to comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care, primary and preventative care, prescription drugs, behavioral health services, laboratory testing, and rehabilitative care, as well as dental, vision, and hearing coverage. There would be no premiums, deductibles, or co-pays; the plan would be funded through progressively raised taxes, including a surcharge that would be split 80/20 between employers and employees.

As Salon‘s Amanda Marcotte wrote earlier this month, the legislation’s lead sponsor, Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, says “‘almost all New Yorkers would pay less than they currently do’ because they would be able to replace their current plans with this more affordable state-based plan.”

Furthermore, Marcotte reported:

Gerald Friedman, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, agreed. In 2015 he wrote an analysis of the proposed bill and concluded that a single-payer system would save money across the board by reducing health care spending.

“One [advantage] is that a single-payer plan will allow providers to economize on the costs of handling the billing and insurance-related expenses,” Friedman argued.

Previous incarnations of the bill have passed the lower chamber multiple times, only to not be picked up for consideration by the state Senate. This time could be different.

Source: Single Payer Success in NY as Medicare-for-All Bill Passes State Assembly | Common Dreams