The Steamroller is not taking the challenge to his cuts from 1199 S.E.I.U and the Greater New York Hospital Association lightly. On Friday he hit them with the powerpoint presentation and then Sunday went to the NY Post and wrote a great editorial on his plan to reform the health care system in New York. Today he is moving forward by looking for support from the trustees of over 1000 of New York's hospitals. By effectively manuevering around GYNHA and 1199 who represent the hospitals, he is talking directly to those in charge.

The letter starts of by acknowledging that he was once a trustee himself and cares deeply about the state of our health care system. He reiterates that we pay too much into a system that provides far too little for people that deserve decent medical care in New York.

Crossposted from Joshing Politics

Here are some key points that Spitzer lays out in the letter:

• New York spends the most on Medicaid in the nation, twice the national average
• New York is #1 in the nation in combined state and local taxes, which as studies have shown, has largely been driven by soaring Medicaid spending
• That spending has gotten us bupkis, specifically 2.6 million uninsured including 400,000 children and that we are #1 in the nation for percentage of deaths from chronic disease, #3 in the nation in per capita deaths from coronary disease

After addressing the problems he defines the solution. Retargeting monies with relatively minor cuts will siphon much of the waste off while providing New Yorkers with what they need. By bringing in essential bureaucracies such as the departments of Health and Insurance, much can be done very quickly. Finally he asks the trustees a set of questions that common sense easily answers.

The Empire Zone does a nice job of finding the key question in the letter:

One of the more notable questions in the governor’s letter: “How can it be that the same hospitals that claim poverty and demand billions of dollars in state subsidies can afford to sustain a $65 million ‘education’ fund, contribute $22.5 million into political campaigns since 1999, and spend $12.7 million on lobbying since 2003?” He adds, “Furthermore, how can it be that those same hospitals that claim poverty and demand billions of dollars in state subsidies can afford to pay their executives multi-million dollar salaries?”

There is plenty more in the four page letter which can be found in the New York Sun. The facts show that the system is cracked and needs a serious retooling. The fiscal waste is glaring and no amount of lobbying by GYNHA and 1199 can mask the obvious fact that the budget must revamp the way health care is provided in New York.