Democratic state legislators on Thursday unveiled specific proposals they said would help consumers understand and pay for health care.

"These common-sense proposals will lead to more transparency, choice, and, we think in the long run, better health care," Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said.

Although it is relatively unusual to unveil proposed legislation a year before the lawmaking session begins, Buckley said the Democrats hope to show voters that they have concrete ideas for how to improve the health care system.

"We believe that an election year should be an opportunity to discuss real legislative ideas," she said.

One Democratic proposal would help small businesses offer health insurance to their employees by giving them a state subsidy of up to $100 per employee per month toward premiums. The businesses would have to pay at least half the cost of the insurance to be eligible for the funds.

"We as Democrats believe this is the right thing to do," said state Sen. Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas. He said the plan would cost the state $6 million to help 5,000 businesses and their employees.

"We will ultimately save taxpayers much more money because the state won't have to pay for the health care of the uninsured (employees)," Horsford said.

Robert Gomez, president of the Latin Chamber of Commerce and owner of a janitorial business, was at the news conference and endorsed the proposal.

"Small business is what makes the engine of the economy work," he said. "The Democrats definitely have this right on target. We need to take care of this type of business."

The Democrats also plan to reintroduce a controversial bill that failed in 2005 that would force hospitals to charge uninsured individuals similar prices to the heavily discounted rates insurance companies pay for medical procedures.

Buckley said hospitals charge the uninsured as much as four times as much as they charge patients who have insurance. "It makes no sense that if you don't have health insurance, you pay the highest rate," she said. "It's hard enough to have cancer without health insurance, but then you also have to pay quadruple the rate."

Nevada has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents in the country, according to federal statistics, with nearly 20 percent of Nevadans lacking health insurance.

Another Democratic proposal would help consumers deal with medical debt by reducing the interest and fees collection agencies charge, which Buckley called "predatory." The plan would help people pay steep medical bills without being driven into bankruptcy, she said.

The Democrats also hope to give Nevadans more information to make informed choices about their health care based on quality and cost by creating Web sites.

One of the proposed Web sites would allow Nevadans to comparison shop for their prescription drugs at different local pharmacies. In an example the Democrats provided, someone taking five common drugs for conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes could save more than $300 by shopping at one pharmacy instead of another.

The other Web site would rank local hospitals for quality and costs, comparing what they charge for common procedures as well as commonly accepted quality benchmarks such as mortality rates. In addition to giving consumers important information, this site would make hospitals compete to offer better care for less, Buckley said.

Studies have shown that prices for medical procedures in Nevada are among the nation's highest.

Health care industry representatives of the were not available to discuss whether the new proposals were workable.

The chairman of the state Republican Party, Paul Adams, dismissed the proposals as "typical Democratic election year gimmickry" and "not a real solution."

Any attempt to fix health care must include tort reform, to reduce frivolous medical-malpractice lawsuits, and deregulation, he said, "not piecemeal Web sites that give people information but don't actually change anything."