Email Pres. Obama: What happened to Openess and Transparency?
Published by Swing State
March 3, 2009
Washington, DC
One group is being left out of the White House’s health reform forum Thursday: supporters of single payer health care.
President Obama has promised an open discussion as he begins an aggressive push for health care reform. Obama said Monday he is “bringing together business and labor, doctors and insurers, Democrats and Republicans” to discuss.
Progressive Democrats of America and Physicians for a National Health Program, leading proponents of expanding Medicare, government-run health care to cover all Americans, have not been invited and are “seeking” an invitation.
John Conyers, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has become Congress’ leader for single payer. He has authored H.R. 676, the model bill for single payer advocates, which has 59 cosponsors. He too has not yet received an invitation.
Liberal health consumer advocate groups such as Families USA and Health Care for America Now are invited and are attending. Neither plan to push single payer.
Even Obama’s new nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius’ own newly implemented state agency, the Kansas Health Policy Authority, recommended single payer as one of four policy options. Despite the government agency’s determination that single payer would be the cheapest, Kansas has also decided to reject that route thus far.
Despite President Obama’s pledge for an open discussion where every position has a seat at the table, one idea seems to be off the table.