By Healthcare-NOW’s national staff
Healthcare-NOW, July 10, 2013
This year, some of our movement’s most inspirational organizing has focused on state-level single-payer healthcare legislation. Consequently, our ally Public Citizen released a report today titled “A Road Map to ‘Single Payer’: How States Can Escape the Clutches of the Private Health Insurance System.” The report aims to help state legislators and activists navigate the legal and legislative hurdles facing state-level single-payer efforts.
If you are active in a state single-payer campaign, we encourage you to download the report and share it with allies in your legislature.
Inspired by Vermont’s law designed to move the state through a series of phases culminating in a single-payer system, many other states have impressed us this year. Oregon activists organized a 1,000-person rally that resulted in passing a bill that compares the costs of single-payer with other healthcare financing systems. New York activists delivered over 10,000 signatures for single payer to legislators that resulted in securing a majority of the state Assembly supporting their state single-payer bill. Colorado activists launched a statewide ballot initiative to make access to healthcare a constitutional right, and is in the process of collecting 100,000 signatures.
Many states, however, do not enjoy the luxury of a state legislature that offers hope for single-payer legislation. We hope state-level victories will inspire national activism for achieving a right to healthcare for all, regardless of geography, income, or other social identities.
We hope that this Road Map will serve as a helpful tool in states’ organizing toolbox, and that you will share it with your network.
Sincerely,
Ben, Zoraida, and Jeff
Healthcare-NOW! National Staff
Healthcare-NOW! is a grassroots organization that addresses the health insurance crisis in the U.S. by educating and advocating for the passage of expanded and improved Medicare-for-all legislation, such as HR 676. Healthcare-NOW! – (800) 453-1305 – 1315 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107.
PNHP note: For additional analysis of Public Citizen’s report, see “How states can get close to a single-payer system” by PNHP’s senior health policy fellow, Dr. Don McCanne.