On Wednesday, the New York Assembly approved a bill called the New York Health Act in a bid to create a single-payer health system in New York.

The assembly voted 89-47 to pass the bill on the floor. The proposal, dubbed 'Medicare for all' by advocates, would provide ample health coverage to all New Yorkers. The act would be funded through a progressive payroll tax paid 80% by employers and 20% by employees.

New York Health would pay providers through collectively negotiated rates with no patient premiums, deductibles or co-payments for hospital and doctor visits, testing, drugs or other care.

Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, chief sponsor, said, "Employers are shifting more and more health care costs to workers or are dropping it entirely. The only ones who benefit are the insurance companies".

According to the estimations of the Manhattan Democrat, the universal care would save New Yorkers over $45 billion annually. It would cut the statewide total cost for health care to about $255 billion in 2019.

However, Assembly Republicans doubted the estimate and questioned what would happen to everyone now employed by insurance companies.

Assemblywoman Jane Corwin, an Erie County Republican, mentioned that additional cost is the last thing New York State would need.

She mentioned that efforts to fight with the cost of the federal Affordable Care Act are going on. The ACA extended health coverage to about 1 million New Yorkers, more than half in Medicaid and the others in private insurance.

According to Senate Health Committee Chairman Kemp Hannon, the bill is facing two major hurdles. One is resistance from senior citizens to giving up Medicare for a new state program and the other is obtaining federal waivers to apply Medicaid and Medicare funding to support it.