New York City mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner is campaigning on the premise of making the city "the single-payer laboratory in the country" if he is elected, according to a report by the New York Times.
In his former role as congressman, Mr. Weiner advocated for a single-payer model for healthcare reimbursement during discussions in the legislature regarding healthcare reform, according to the report. He argues adopting such a system at the city-level could tamp down the city's growing $15.5 billion healthcare expenditures, so long as the 600,000 working and retired city workers raise their contribution to their insurance premiums from 0 to 10 percent of the bill. Undocumented workers would also be expected to pay in, according to the report.
Citing a projected 40 percent increase in the city's spending on employee health benefits by 2017, he said as mayor he would commission a task force to explore contracting a more competitive contract with health insurers or shifting to a self-insured model. The reformed health plan could be offered via the state's online health insurance exchange.
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