Pass single-payer, divvy up tab later: Cyn

ALBANY – Gubernatorial wannabe Cynthia Nixon says a costly state universal health care plan is so important the state should just “pass it and then figure out how to fund it.”

Estimates for the cost of a implementing a single payer health care plan in New York have ranged from anywhere between $92 billion to $200 billion. The state budget currently is $170 billion.

Nixon said she does not have a specific plan on how to fund such a program, though a recent Rand report raised the idea of raising payroll and other taxes. Her aides note a universal health care bill that passed the Assembly would enact the plan and form a commission to figure out how to fund it.

Nixon suggested there is an “enormous desire” for single payer health care, which she said in the long term will save the state, businesses and consumers money.

Gov. Cuomo has supported the concept, but said it would be better done on the federal level.

Nixon during Wednesday’s sitdown with the Daily News Editorial Board criticized Mayor de Blasio’s 10-year plan to close Rikers Island as too slow and also urged the mayor to get on board with the idea of congestion pricing to help fund much-needed subway repairs.

She also said Cuomo, who she will square off against in the Sept. 13 Democratic primary, should back a tax on the wealthy to help fund the subways and education.

Though she has made imposing a millionaire’s tax a central theme to her campaign, Nixon, who is a firsttime candidate with no state government experience, did not know the top income tax rate in New York, which is 8.82%. She also couldn’t say how much of the income taxes raised by the state comes from millionaires – it’s 40% – or offer a ballpark figure.

Nixon also ripped publicly funded but privately run charter schools, saying she does not view them as public schools.