by Sue Schultz
Baltimore Business Journal Staff
June 24, 2008
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon is one of seven U.S. mayors to craft a bill supporting single-payer national health insurance, a proposal being pushed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
The resolution has been formally adopted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, a national organization representing cities of more than 30,000, and is making its way through the U.S. Congress.
U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat representing Michigan, is the primary sponsor of the bill, which is backed by 90 other legislators. The universal health care approach would require all residents to have health insurance. Under the single-payer system, the program would be funded by one source such as the federal government. Canada’s health care system is a single-payer program.
“By taking this action, the mayors have put, in the boldest way, single-payer national health insurance on top of the domestic agenda, squarely in the middle of the legislative and presidential election,” said Dr. Quentin Young, national coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program.
The Physicians for a National Health Program, a Chicago-based nonprofit representing about 15,000 physicians, helped the U.S. Conference of Mayors craft the resolution.