Gov. Eliot Spitzer said the state will commission an independent research group to help New York develop a universal health coverage plan. The Department of Health and the Insurance Department will award the $470,000 contract to the Urban Institute, an independent, nonpartisan policy research group, to analyze proposals and develop a ‘‘strategic roadmap’’ to universal health insurance. Health Department officials said the Urban Institute would receive a two-year contract, but officials in the governor’s office expect the group to begin work by March 1 and to have a final recommendation to Spitzer by next summer. The contract must be approved...