Policoff state single payer

SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE IS ALIVE AND WELL

IN THE UNITED STATESPennsylvania Progressive Summit

Philadelphia, PAFebruary 12, 2012

Jerry PolicoffHealthcare for ALL PA Board member

STATES WITH ACTIVE SINGLE-PAYER MOVEMENTS AND/OR PENDING LEGISLATION

• CALIFORNIA• COLORADO• CONNECTICUT• GEORGIA• HAWAII• ILLINOIS• MAINE• MARYLAND• MASSACHUSETTS• MINNESOTA

• MONTANA• NEW JERSEY• NEW MEXICO• NEW YORK• OHIO• OREGON• PENNSYLVANIA• VERMONT• WASHINGTON• WISCONSIN

Both houses of the California Legislature have passed single-payer legislation not once, but twice, spurred on by an economic impact study that projected annual savings of $3.7 to $7.6 Billion. Governor Schwarzenegger twice vetoed the bills, labeling them “socialized medicine.”

Fast forward to January 2012. Single-payer fails by two votes in the California Senate thanks to 6 Democrats and their special-interest campaign contributors . . .

Will Dr. Deb Richter and Governor Peter Shumlin become the Tommy Douglas’s of the United States by establishing a single-payer

healthcare system in Vermont?

Deb Richter: A Cure for Broken Health Care The YES! Breakthrough 15: Meet the doctor who uprooted her life to bring universal health care to Vermont.

HOW TO BREAK THROUGH:

“I never felt like I had a choice about getting involved in this struggle … I couldn’t stop and I never

will.”

Dr. Deb Richter

State releases report on single-payer plan By CHRIS GAROFOLO / Reformer Staff1/24/2012 03:00:00 AM EST

Tuesday January 24, 2012 BRATTLEBORO -- Officials in the process of overhauling Vermont's "unsustainable" health care system released a 21-page report on how the state will implement a single-payer plan within the next three to five years….

Hawaii, thanks to an ERISA waiver, is the only state with an employer mandate requiring employers to provide employee healthcare benefits. Hawaii has the second lowest uninsured rate among the 50 states at 7.5% (U.S. Census Bureau) Now Hawaii is fast-tracking a single-payer system that will deliver healthcare for all. The Hawaii Health Authority is an autonomous public body tasked with developing a comprehensive health plan that includes all individuals in Hawaii, and that is seeking the waivers “that are necessary to implement and maintain” universal health care.

6 of the 9 members of the Hawaii Health Authority Board are active members of Health Care for All Hawaii, an organization dedicated to bringing single-payer healthcare to Hawaii. Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie was a co-sponsor of HR 676 (House single-payer bill) when he was a member of Congress. On September 1, 2011 Governor Abercrombe appointed Stephen Kemble, MD to the Hawaii Health Authority. Kemble, a strong advocate for single-payer healthcare, is also president-elect of the Hawaii chapter of the American Medical Association (HMA) which adopted his resolution in 2009 supporting single-payer health care reform.

As Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Montana Senator Max Baucus refused to give single-payer healthcare advocates a seat at the table when he held hearings on healthcare reform: Max Baucus on single payer: "I’m not going to waste my time"

Senator Max Baucus was pointedly asked why single payer was not an option, and his response was blunt: “I think at this time, in this country, single payer is not going to get to first base in the Congress. . . . Like it or not, health reform is going to build upon what we already have. “ Not everyone in his state agrees . . .

Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Wednesday he will ask the U.S. government to let Montana set up its own universal health care program, taking his rhetorical fight over health care to another level. [...] The popular second-term Democrat would like to create a state-run system that borrows from the program used in Saskatchewan. He said the Canadian province controls cost by negotiating drug prices and limiting non-emergency procedures such as MRIs.

The Affordable Care Act provides for States to establish alternative systems to the Exchanges beginning in 2017. Hawaii and Vermont are seeking to have those waiver dates moved up to 2014 which would leave them free to establish single-payer systems in their respective states. President Obama has endorsed moving up the waiver dates to 2014 . . .

Mr. President, the time is now to use your bully pulpit to persuade Congress to move up the waiver dates.

SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE EVERYBODY IN. NOBODY OUT!!!