New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a "historic" plan to give comprehensive health care to every single New Yorker, regardless of ability to pay or immigration status.

There are an estimated 300,000 illegal aliens living in the city.

De Blasio is assuring New Yorkers that his plan for "free" health care will cost only $100 million.  

NBC4:

It's not health insurance, his spokesman clarified after the surprise announcement on MSNBC Tuesday morning. 

"This is the city paying for direct comprehensive care (not just ERs) for people who can't afford it, or can't get comprehensive Medicaid – including 300,000 undocumented New Yorkers," spokesman Eric Phillips tweeted.

Well, that makes all the difference, doesn't it?  The administration of such a program will still be a nightmare – and expensive.

At a press conference Tuesday, de Blasio said the plan will provide primary and specialty care, from pediatrics to OBGYN, geriatric, mental health and other services, to the city's roughly 600,000 uninsured. 

The city already has the foundation for such a plan – a public health insurance option that helps get direct care to undocumented [sic] residents. 

That option will be expanded, the mayor said, and supported with the addition of a new program called NYC Care.  Patients who seek health coverage through NYC Care will receive a card that allows them to see a primary care doctor and seek specialty care services, de Blasio said. 

Those who can afford to pay will pay for services on a sliding scale, while those who can't will receive free coverage, he noted. 

The city's organized criminal element is salivating at the prospect.  Think of all the opportunities for graft and corruption.

New Yorkers will be able to access the program through the city's website or simply by calling 311.  There will be no tax hikes to fund it, the mayor said. 

"The programs will include customer-friendly call lines to help New Yorkers – regardless of their insurance – make appointments with general practitioners, cardiologists, pediatricians, gynecologists and a full spectrum of health care services," his office said in a release. 

This program is a disaster waiting to happen.  The idea that there will be no tax hikes to pay for it is absurd.  No matter what estimate of the costs of the deal city planners are relying on, it's going to be a lot more.  We saw this with Obamacare.  The cheaper you make something, the more you get of it.  Costs of the program are going to explode.

Former Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen pointed this out at Fox News Insider:

Thiessen said the same claim was made after ObamaCare was passed, however, emergency room visits did not decline as predicted but instead increased.  He said that the undocumented [sic] often go to the ER for many health issues, regardless of severity, because they will not be asked for health documentation.

"People from all over the country are going to flood into New York to get their free health care," Thiessen said, adding that he had advice for taxpayers in the country's largest city who will foot the bill.

"Move over to Hoboken," Thiessen said, adding that skipping town to neighboring New Jersey will avoid the higher taxes that he predicted would come. 

De Blasio is going full socialist, and New York residents are going to pay the price.