This is a letter to the editor that I am going to send to Newsday (in hopes it will be published) and the charts showing Dr. George Jolly’s calculations of employee savings for the Town of Huntington, Northport-Eastport Union Free School District and Suffolk County.
At the historic joint hearing of the NY State Senate and Assembly on the New York Health Act, local Assemblyman Andrew Raia, stayed for the whole thirteen hours. He said he supported the idea of health care for all but had questions about the cost. The NY Health Act would provide health care for everyone, including dental, eye care and long-term care, without deductions, co-pays, or networks, allowing free choice among doctors and health care providers.
The Rand report and the Friedman report both show long term savings for NY State, when compared to the costs of current for-profit insurance system. Testimony told of even further savings due to reduced cost of employee health care for Towns, School Districts and Counties. Assemblyman Raia questioned whether these savings could be realized for Long Island. Dr. George Jolly has calculated the annual savings for the Town of Huntington to be over $18 million, the savings for Northport-Eastport Union Free School District are over $14 million and for Suffolk County the savings would be over $612 million dollars. Money that could result in lower property taxes for citizens of these Towns and Suffolk County. School districts, Towns and Counties throughout NY State would see similar savings. The New York Health Act not only makes moral sense but economic sense. It is time our Assembly and State Senate pass the New York Health Act.
Sergia Coffey, PhD
Rand Report: Liu, Jodi L.; Chapin White, Sarah A. Nowak, Asa Wilks, Jamie Ryan, Christine Eibner; “An Assessment of the New York Health Act A Single-Payer Option for New York State”, Rand Corp., 2018 https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/pnhpnymetro/pages/3980/attachments/original/1533068488/RAND_NYHA_full_study_RR2424_compiled.pdf?1533068488
Friedman, Gerald; “Economic Analysis of the New York Health Act”, 2015 http://www.infoshare.org/main/Economic_Analysis_New_York_Health_Act_-_GFriedman_-_April_2015.pdf
2018 Town of Huntington NYHA Work Sheet
| Total pay | Group pay | Group pay | Group Pay | Effective | Total | |||
| Bracket | emp # | for Group | Taxed at 6% | Taxed at 12% | Taxed at 18% | Bracket Rate | Tax | |
| $0-25k | 290 | $1,897,546 | $1,897,546 | $0 | $0 | 6% | $113,853 | |
| $25-128.4k | 627 | $48,368,072 | $15,675,000 | $32,693,072 | $0 | 10.1% | $4,863,669 | |
| over $128.4k | 26 | $3,614,607 | $650,000 | $2,688,400 | $276,207 | 11.4% | $411,325 | |
| Total Salaries | $53,880,225 | Total NYHA Assessment | $5,388,847 | |||||
| Total employees | 943 | |||||||
| Total 2018 Budget | $194,244,079 | 80% of Assessment is | ||||||
| 2018 Medical Expense | $22,500,000 | Employer Contribution | $4,311,077 | |||||
| % of 2018 Budget | 11.6% | % of 2018 Budget | 2.8% | |||||
| % of payroll | 41.8% | % of payroll | 8.0% | |||||
| Expected 2018 savings | $18,188,923 | |||||||
(Calculations based on the tax plan proposed in the 2018 Rand Research Report, “An Assessment of the New York Health Act”)
2018 Northport-Eastport Union Free School District NYHA Work Sheet
| Total pay | Group pay | Group pay | Group Pay | Effective | Total | |||
| Bracket | emp # | for Group | Taxed at 6% | Taxed at 12% | Taxed at 18% | Bracket Rate | Tax | |
| $0-25k | 340 | $3,576,133 | $3,576,133 | $0 | $0 | 6% | $214,568 | |
| $25-128.4k | 782 | $62,255,647 | $19,550,000 | $42,705,647 | $0 | 10.1% | $6,297,678 | |
| over $128.4k | 131 | $19,006,215 | $3,275,000 | $13,545,400 | $2,185,815 | 11.7% | $2,215,395 | |
| Total Salaries | $84,837,995 | Total NYHA Assessment | $8,727,640 | |||||
| Total employees | 1,253 | |||||||
| Total 2018 Budget | $166,810,381 | 80% of Assessment is | ||||||
| 2018 Medical Expense | $21,195,526 | Employer Contribution | $6,982,112 | |||||
| % of 2018 Budget | 12.7% | % of 2018 Budget | 5.2% | |||||
| % of payroll | 25.0% | % of payroll | 8.2% | |||||
| Expected 2018 savings | $14,213,414 | |||||||
(Calculations based on the tax plan proposed in the 2018 Rand Research Report, “An Assessment of the New York Health Act”)
2018 Suffolk County NYHA Work Sheet
| Total pay | Group pay | Group pay | Group Pay | Effective | Total | ||||
| Bracket | emp # | for Group | Taxed at 6% | Taxed at 12% | Taxed at 18% | Bracket Rate | Tax | ||
| $0-25k | 1869 | $21,444,236 | $21,444,236 | $0 | $0 | 6% | $1,286,654 | ||
| $25-128.4k | 6356 | $450,371,593 | $158,900,000 | $291,471,593 | $0 | 9.9% | $44,510,591 | ||
| over $128.4k | 2833 | $518,164,090 | $70,825,000 | $292,932,200 | $154,406,890 | 13.0% | $67,194,604 | ||
| Total Salaries | $989,979,919 | Total NYHA Assessment | $112,991,850 | ||||||
| Total employees | 11,058 | ||||||||
| Total 2018 Budget | $3,060,000,000 | 80% of Assessment is | |||||||
| 2018 Medical Expense | $447,170,000 | Employer Contribution | $90,393,480 | ||||||
| % of 2018 Budget | 14.6% | % of 2018 Budget | 3.7% | ||||||
| % of payroll | 45.2% | % of payroll | 9.1% | ||||||
Expected 2018 savings on employee healthcare costs — $356,776,520
Suffolk County 2016 “Local Share” of Medicaid cost (eliminated by the NYHA) — $256,134,440
Total potential annual savings — $612,910,960
(Calculations based on the tax plan proposed in the 2018 Rand Research Report, “An Assessment of the New York Health Act”)