New York State Assembly Expected to Pass Bill to Bring Single-Payer Health Care to Empire State

by Anthony Smith

On Tuesday, the New York State Assembly is scheduled to vote on Assembly Bill A4738 — the so-called New York Health Plan — a bill that, if signed into law, would make the Empire State the first in the nation to give its residents single-payer health care. 

Just as it did in 2015 and 2016, the measure is expected to easily pass the assembly by an overwhelming majority. And just as it did for the past two years, the bill has a difficult road ahead of it in the New York State Senate.

But this year, the bill has already won a crucial victory: For the first time ever, the move to bring single-payer to the state of New York has been cosponsored by every single member of the Independent Democratic Caucus, a controversial gang of Democrats in the New York State Senate that does not caucus with their party. This faction, along with a lone Democrat that caucuses with New York's GOP, has helped Republicans in New York's State Senate to thwart Democratic lawmakers' efforts in the past, despite the party's hair-thin majority in the state senate.

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Source: Mic.com (via The Empire Report)