And some of them are truly awful. Giving seniors a voucher with which to buy insurance from a private insurance company?!? We can only hope that Congress will kill this one quickly; and if they don’t, that the president will veto. Medicare is not the problem! It is potentially a solution. Check out Margaret Flowers of PNHP on this topic.
Meanwhile, Vermont is inching closer to some sort of single-payer system. The bills have passed both the state House and Senate, but need to be reconciled, and a lot of details need to be worked out, including the funding, who will be covered, and what level of benefits will be covered. Pretty basic stuff.
And in Oregon, the legislature is inching toward participation in the health insurance exchange in the federal health reform legislation. A Senate Committee has approved Senate Bill 99, which proposes to create an exchange as a public corporation with a governing board. The exchange will be available to individuals and businesses with 50 or less employees in 2014, and in 2016 would be open to all purchasers. It is likely that the Senate and House will pass the Bill, albeit probably with some revisions. HCAO believes that the exchanges will probably end up covering mostly poor and sick people, so not really solving our basic problems.
Since your blogger is originally from England, we must also note that Britain’s National Health Service, which has provided truly universal care for over sixty years, faces major cuts and a serious threat of increased privatization. Heartbreaking.
See the calendar page for details of a benefit for Mid Valley Health Care Advocates on May 14.