YoungVoteTheYoungVoteTheYoungVoteTheYou

Compensation, much?

Governor of New York David Paterson unveils a plan to expand health insurance to the largest uninsured age group: young adults 19-29. Times Union breaks the story.  The expansion emerges in the wake of a proposal by the unelected governor for large scale cuts in welfare programs. He has pretty much cut through these programs like butter: nearly a billion dollars will be taken from medicaid services and over a 100 million will be denied to the City University of New York, which spends nearly all of its money on financing the education of underprivileged youth, by 2010.  Thanks? Meanwhile, most of the mainstream media is focusing on Paterson's "bald move" to cut government spending on lifestyle drugs, such as propecia, curently subsidized by NY State for elderly health care programs. Um...yeah, you show them David! Wait a second, I didn't know my EDUCATION was a lifestyle drug. Also, I didn't know propecia cost the state a billion dollars.
Nevertheless, any recognition of the right of young adults to have healthcare works for me. Especially when finding a job today is increasingly becoming impossible and many young adults are coming out of high school and college without livelihood. With this plan we very well may live to see the inside of a cubicle. How exciting.
However, knowing that he is proposing to drastically cut state spending on insurance I did have to ask: Where is this money coming from exactly? Oh yeah, our parents.
"Under Paterson's plan, insurers and employers who provide health insurance would be required to offer continued coverage to the older children of employees. For parents, providing the insurance would be optional."
Yeah, he sucks. But I'm still going to support this thing.
You can contact the assemblymen and women in NY Legislature here.