A new survey released today by the Community Service Society (CSS) and Lake Research Partners examines New Yorkers’ views from four different regions of the State about health care costs and whether proposed health reform bills circulating in Washington will be affordable.

Key discoveries from the survey include:

• New Yorkers were willing to pay an average of $206 a month for health insurance, with individuals in New York City and upstate rural areas able to afford less on average ($177 and $189, respectively).
• 71% of New Yorkers said even the House federal reform bill (H.R.3200) (which is more generous than the Senate Finance Committee proposal) would be too expensive.
• Nearly 74% of New Yorkers say they would support a new option to allow them to purchase public health insurance on a voluntary basis through existing state programs like Child Health Plus and Family Health Plus in order to make health insurance more affordable.
• 81% of New Yorkers want affordable health care to be a top or high priority with their elected officials.
• Two in three New Yorkers support restoring the State Department of Insurance’s ability to pre-approve excessive premium increases.
• Three in four New Yorkers want state officials to merge the small group and individual markets in New York.

The message is clear: New Yorkers do not want state officials to wait and see what happens with national health reform.

View the Press Release here.
View the PowerPoint Presentation here.