ALBANY, N.Y., May 21 – The commissioner of the Office of General Services would establish a preference in granting state contracts to contractors who provide employer-sponsored health coverage under legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried (D/L-New York), Chairman of the Health Committee.

This bill recognizes that it is the policy of the state to promote the provision of health care coverage, stated Gottfried. It would provide an incentive for those businesses that currently provide coverage to maintain benefits for their employees, and provide an incentive for additional companies to follow suit.

More and more companies are dropping their employer-sponsored health care coverage, making it unaffordable for some, according to Gottfried. Out of the three million uninsured New Yorkers, nearly three quarters are working men, women, and their families.This large number of uninsured employees places a serious burden on health care providers, taxpayers, those employers who provide coverage, and on the uninsured themselves, Gottfried said.

For these reasons, Gottfried concluded that it is appropriate that the state make sure that the employers it does business with promote the public interest in health coverage, just as we require them to be non-discriminatory, abide by the McBride principles in Northern Ireland, pay prevailing wages, etc.