Single payer fight moves to states

Run time: 10:52 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YUiVj8oSxo   Posted on YouTube: March 09, 2010 By YouTube Member: TheRealNews Views on YouTube: 100   Posted on DU: March 10, 2010 By DU Member: slipslidingaway Views on DU: 539

 
"Swanson: Obama pushes out Kucinich single payer amendment that enables states single payer health care."

You are a tireless fighter.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/05/pelosi-single-payer-amend_n_347017.html

Thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4134508&mesg_id=4134508


"An amendment to allow states to pursue single-payer health care without incurring insurance-industry lawsuits was stripped from the House bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday, adding that it would break President Obama's commitment to people keeping their current insurance plan if they like it.


...Kucinich tells HuffPost that his amendment was scored by the Congressional Budget Office and that it is deficit neutral. The amendment would prevent insurers from suing states after they enact single-payer.

Pelosi said, however, that it was unclear what the overall effect of it would be. It's hard to know, of course, whether and when states would enact single-payer systems. "All of our decisions are based on what we have to be answerable for in terms of the Congressional Budget Office, about what the cost will be," she said.

Kucinich, told about the Speaker's comment, said he hasn't given up. "The Speaker's a friend of mine. The president's a friend of mine. I talked to the president about this on several occasions, including last week. This is a decision that has to be made by Congress. And I'm hopefull we'll be able to get the Kucinich amendment reinstated," he said.

The president, Kucinich said, didn't commit one way or the other to his amendment, but understands how important it is to progressives..."

Keep fighting the good fight. You are one of our young, up and coming progressive leaders who are making a real difference in our country.

You clearly have great ideas and a terrific passion for the work you do so well. Thank you for raising our consciousness and awareness of so many vital issues.

Keep on carrying on.

:applause: :kick:

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/03/08/how-to-get-a-state-single-payer-opt-out-as-part-of-reconciliation/

"...Delayed Until 2017

The first problem is the date of implementation. States can’t apply for the waiver until 2017, which is completely ridiculous. There is no reason for the delay, and it would make state innovation very difficult to implement. It would first require states to go through all the work of setting up the new system of exchanges for 2014, only to turn around and try to replace it with another new system three years later.

The other big problem with the date is that 2017 would be right after Obama left office (assuming that he served two terms). Since it is very rare for one party to hold the presidency for three straight terms, it will likely be a Republican in the White House in 2017. Assume their HHS secretary would not be open to granting the waiver for a state-based single payer system, it would likely not be until 2020 or 2024 that this provision could be used for creating state single payer, and that assumes a supportive Democratic president is elected. This is completely unacceptable.


...Getting Around ERISA

The other major impediment is the scope of the waiver, which I interpret to mean it can’t be used for a waiver of ERISA. From the Senate bill (with Secretary defined as Secretary of HHS and Treasury):


...Conclusion

The Senate bill spends a large amount of money on a very inefficient way of expanding coverage. With modest modifications, the state waiver provision could allow individual states to use that money to pursue single payer systems, a move that would potentially save the states and the federal government a large amount of money. Despite what Obama is telling Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), the current state waiver provision can’t do that.

A better state waiver redesign would not just allow for state-based single payer, but other systems like a German-style all-payer system, a Hawaii-style strict employer mandate system, a Singapore-style system of HSAs combined with catastrophic insurance, etc..."