Cynthia Nixon endorses single-payer health care in New York

New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon on Tuesday endorsed a state-wide single-payer health-care system amid her challenge against Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) from the left.

“Health care should be a human right, not a privilege for those who can afford it,” Nixon says in a new video. “When I’m governor, we’ll pass the New York Health Act and create a single-payer, Medicare-for-all-system that covers every New Yorker.”

As single-payer health care gains ground in the Democratic Party, Nixon is one of several governor candidates across the country who has endorsed the idea on a state level, including Gavin Newsom in California and Ben Jealous in Maryland.

Creating a government-run health insurance system for all on a state level poses major challenges, including how to pay for it.

{mosads}Vermont, the home state of one of the most prominent champions of the idea, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I), previously tried to set up a state-run single payer system but called it off amid funding challenges.

Cuomo has also expressed openness to a single-payer system, though he says that it could make more sense to do on the federal level.

“If they were to pass it and it was not incongruous with what the federal government would do to us, I think it’s a very exciting possibility,” Cuomo said in September.

Proponents argue that costs would be lower if the government could set prices for health care and cut out the administrative costs from having an array of insurers.

Nixon called for “taking on the greed of Big Pharma and insurance companies who make billions off of human suffering.”

“Single-payer health care in New York isn’t a pipe dream,” she added.