Dems now control California and Vermont. Is it time for state level single payer?

[sumit1207]

So, Dems took those two governorships, and I think that was the only excuse liberals had for not achieving UHC, yes? The next time the CA legislature passes SB 810, Gov. elect Jerry Brown will surely sign it, right? And Gov. elect Shumlin sounds very promising as well. He is meeting Obama later this month to ask for some waiver to pursue single payer? Do you think this will be rejected?
Does anyone know if state-enacted single payer programs would cause those states to lose federal Medicare/caid/SCHIP funding? It seems like this would lead to major inconsistencies, but I really have no idea.
Also, is there potential in other progressive states? Connecticut and Rhode Island abandoned GOP governors too, so maybe some hope there? MassCase I hear is as bland and useless as Obamacare, so could it be reworked soon? I don't know how any of there legislatures are though. Is there any traction in Washington/Oregon? I would think they would have been among the first for UHC reform, and I think they're Dem-controlled too.

Also, Massachusetts voters OVERWHELMINGLY embraced single payer as a simple non-binding ballot question, like every single county. And Brown's election was apparently some repudiation of government control of healthcare. Hah.

http://www.examiner.com/bronx-county-independent-in-new-york/single-payer-wins-massachusetts

An overwhelming number of voters, in some districts up to 75%, in Massachusetts voted to support the creation of a single-payer healthcare system. So says a ballot question from Tuesday that asked if state representatives from the voter’s district should be instructed to support the creation of a single-payer system “like Medicare.”

This vote was a follow up to a similarly positive outcome to the question from the 2008 elections. The resolution, is, of course, non-binding, but points to significant grassroots support for the universal healthcare plan.

In Watertown, Mass. famous as being the place where radical Helen Keller attended the Perkins School for the Blind, 67% of voters supported the measure. In smaller towns, the support was overwhelming. 85% of voters in Wendell, Mass, a town of 986 people, voted yes. Margins were slimmer in middling towns such as Marlborough and Braintree, but still affirmative.

The single-payer system voters were asked to approve would create one national health insurance plan that covers all residents. The plan would effectively abolish the private health insurance companies in order to ensure that the more than 50 million people outside of the healthcare system receive coverage. In addition, such a plan would remove one of the major causes of personal bankruptcy – debts from medical care.

http://www.examiner.com/bronx-county-independent-in-new-york/single-payer-wins-massachusetts

 

[Cutlass]

Don't underestimate how conservative Connecticut is, despite going nearly all Democratic. Connecticut doesn't change things. And many other states are too fiscally strapped to enact new programs now.

 

[The Yankee]

Where exactly would California obtain the revenue to start a single-payer system now?

Can't say I know anything about Vermont's fiscal situation.

 

[sumit1207]

Vermont has a potential 110 million deficit, which I guess is significant for its size. Hopefully they will be able to design UHC so costs are limited.
I just read there is a provision in the Obamacare bill that prevents states from implementing single payer until 2017? Great, so not only bland and useless but detrimental to real reform.

 

[The Yankee]

Those supposed benefits from the Obamacare package weren't due to kick in for several years anyway, single-payer or not.

 

[Bestbank Tiger]

I just read there is a provision in the Obamacare bill that prevents states from implementing single payer until 2017? Great, so not only bland and useless but detrimental to real reform.

I think you're right but I couldn't find a link.

I don't think they could have passed a worse bill if they actively tried.

 

[Bestbank Tiger]

Oh, and I think Vermont already has universal coverage for children. Howard Dean brought it up during the Obamacare debate, before he sold out and supported the bill.

 

[amadeus]

No, we need to force it down everybody's throats.

 

[Cutlass]

What about what conservatives shove down out throats?

 

[amadeus]

What about what conservatives shove down out throats?

That's the genius of states' rights... the abortion ban in Alabama isn't going to mean breaking out coat hangers in California.

 

[Bestbank Tiger]

That's the genius of states' rights... the abortion ban in Alabama isn't going to mean breaking out coat hangers in California.

Hey, stick to the subject

States should have the right to set up their own public options. Obamacare took away that right, which is not only immoral but also (IMO) unconstitutional.

 

[Cutlass]

That's the genius of states' rights... the abortion ban in Alabama isn't going to mean breaking out coat hangers in California.

Way to change the subject and hope no one notices.

 

[amadeus]

Hey, stick to the subject

There wasn't an abortion ban in Alabama, I was just using it as an example of "conservative" policy.

Way to change the subject and hope no one notices.

Again, an example.

 

[Cutlass]

There wasn't an abortion ban in Alabama, I was just using it as an example of "conservative" policy.


Again, an example.

What about them shoving down our throats a completely broken medical system that they won't allow to be fixed?

 

[The Yankee]

What about what conservatives shove down out throats?

Can't both sides have lousy legislation?

 

[Bestbank Tiger]

There wasn't an abortion ban in Alabama, I was just using it as an example of "conservative" policy.

Yeah, I kneaux. I used the states-rights example because that's a conservative principle that would benefit liberals...thought our resident libs might be more receptive to that message.

Two other good examples in the same vein are No Child Gets Ahead and Real ID, both of which were Shrub ideas that violated states' rights. And the Utah Legislature passed nullification resolutions on both (so nullification isn't just something they do to the black guy).

 

[JohnRM]

We can only hope.

 

[amadeus]

What about them shoving down our throats a completely broken medical system that they won't allow to be fixed?

Which conservatives would those be? Would they be the ones that started the rotten idea of employer-based health insurance, the ones that made it so that people can't buy insurance interstate, or the ones that are going to "cut costs" by forcing the system to support 30 million new clients?

 

[Cutlass]

Can't both sides have lousy legislation?

Sure. But only one side is constantly claiming everything the other side does is being rammed down the county's throat.

 

[Bei1052]

How is California going to afford a single-payer anything considering how completely broke and debt ridden it is? Of course, they'll probably try it, fail miserably, and then run to the government for a hand-out.