Jim McDermott (D, WA-07) Introduces State-Based Universal Health Care Legislation

[eridani]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2015
Contact: Dan Rubin, [phone]

McDermott Introduces State-Based Universal Health Care Legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA), ranking member of the Ways & Means Health Subcommittee, has introduced legislation to provide states the tools they need to guarantee the health security of their citizens. This legislation, the State-Based Universal Health Care Act of 2015 (H.R. 3241), establishes a new framework through which states may apply for a waiver of federal law in order to design and implement a single-payer health care system.

“The Affordable Care Act was a landmark achievement and a strong first step toward achieving health security in this country,” said Congressman McDermott. “However, we still have a tremendous amount of work left to do. As we explore ways to build upon the successes of the ACA, it is critical that we look for creative solutions to the challenges that still exist. Granting states tools to design single-payer systems will help spur necessary innovation, achieve universal coverage, and control costs.”

The State-Based Universal Health Care Act removes barriers in federal law that currently prevent states from establishing single-payer systems. Under this legislation, a state may apply for a Universal Health Care Waiver that will grant it authority over federal health care dollars that otherwise would have been spent on the state’s residents. It will also give states the power to regulate employee health benefits, authority which is currently preempted by federal law.

Any state seeking a Universal Health Care Waiver must design a system that covers substantially all of its residents. The benefits that each citizen receives must be at least as comprehensive and no less affordable than under existing federal health programs. Once enacted, the state plan must be publicly administered, and it may not add to the federal deficit.

[Iliyah]

1. K & R

Good luck on that. The GOP hates any type of healthcare for the general public. The only states that would try to implement "single payer" would undoubtedly be DEM run states.

[Recursion]

2. Canada does its system at the Province level

Realistically this is probably the way to go forward, state by state. Vermont couldn't find a way to pay for it, but a larger state might have a better shot at being first.

[eridani]

3. Agreed. The US is more like Canada than any European country

They went province by province, and we will have to go state by state.

[pnwmom]

4. What does this do beyond the waiver that is already in the ACA, that allowed Vermont

to experiment with single-payer? (Though it hasn't yet gone forward.)