Senate Democrats are “secretly considering” up to $1 billion in “new taxes on medical services” as an alternative to health care spending cuts in Governor Paterson’s deficit reduction plan, according to this report in today’s New York Post.

Such a tax would add to what is already a heavy and fast-growing burden.  Using projected revenues for 2009-10, New York’s current array of special taxes and fees under the Health Care Reform Act (HCRA) includes:

• $2.242 billion in surcharges on health care providers;
• $1.165 billion from the covered lives assessment on health insurance policies;
• $306 million in hospital assessments; and
• $131 million from a newly enacted tax on non-profit HMOs.

All of which comes to $3.8 billion — up $1.4 billion, or 56 percent, in just the past four years.   Collections from the covered lives assessment alone have nearly doubled since 2005-06.

This year, in fact, health-care taxes and fees will total at least $1 billion more than total receipts from New York’s principal general business tax, the state corporation franchise tax.