Statement From Senate Republican Leader Flanagan

I’m pleased that the Assembly and Senate Health Committees are today holding a joint hearing on legislation to bring single-payer healthcare to our state. By doing so, they will highlight many of the problems associated with imposing this costly, bureaucratic nightmare on the people of New York.

If the Democrats in Albany succeed in passing this bill, overburdened taxpayers will soon be forced to cough up hundreds of billions of dollars more in taxes than they are paying now. The state’s top doctors will leave New York and the quality of our health care will suffer. Patients in search of timely medical attention will wait months or even years for the urgent care they need and deserve. Anyone who likes their doctor will almost certainly lose their doctor. No New Yorker will be allowed to carry private insurance. And, the same Albany bureaucrats who could barely get the state’s medical marijuana program off the ground will be in charge of running our entire health care system.

Presently, the state’s uninsured population is 4.7%, its lowest rate in years. And, while we should look at other ways to improve access to health care, passage of this bill will collapse the state’s economy and cause chaos in virtually every community throughout New York. Single-payer hasn’t worked in any other state where it has been attempted. We should heed those lessons. Albany-care is a prescription for disaster.