Hey Rudy! Speaking of in health care...

Today's Newsday has a cover story on part-time community board members on Long Island who get free health benefits, paid for by taxpayers.

Now, what do you call this? Say it with me: Socialized medicine.

The full story, in all its obscene detail, is here.

Katuria D'Amato, wife of former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, gets free family health insurance as a member of the part-time Hempstead Zoning Board of Appeals.

Patrick E. Byrne Jr., an anti-tax activist from Lake Grove, gets his benefits as vice chairman of the board of Suffolk Off-Track Betting Corp.

And Kings Point Mayor Michael Kalnick, a partner in his own Manhattan law firm, gets his health benefits fully funded by serving as chairman of the board of the Water Authority of Great Neck North.

All across Long Island, at least 100 members of various appointed boards are given health insurance - usually at no cost to them - even though they work just part time, in some cases only a few hours a month. Many also are eligible for lifetime health insurance once they turn 55 and are considered vested - sometimes after serving only a five-year term.

Offering fully paid health benefits to part-time board members is a little-known practice average taxpayers and even some government officials aren't aware of. Less apparent is that in some cases these part-time political appointees receive benefits for the rest of their lives.

Note that one of these guys, Patrick E. Byrne, is an anti-tax activist. Living off the taxpayers' money. And there's Katuria D'Amato, who's married to one of the most loathsome figures in New York politics. Speaking of which...

Republican Katuria D'Amato named her husband - now a prominent lobbyist who once was paid $500,000 for making a single phone call - as a dependent on the health insurance she receives as a member of the Hempstead zoning board. The board meets two or three times a month, and she receives a $38,000 salary. Alfonse D'Amato is also insured separately, his spokeswoman said. Both D'Amatos declined to comment.

All of the people receiving these perks are well-to-do, and some got their jobs as political favors. There are a few board members who give lip service to performing public service. Perhaps they could prove their committment by giving up these benefits. Other part-timers don't get health benefits, so why should these wealthy Long Islanders?