1. SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE
IS ALIVE AND WELL
IN THE UNITED STATES
Pennsylvania Progressive Summit
Philadelphia, PA
February 12, 2012
Jerry Policoff
Healthcare for ALL PA Board member

2. STATES WITH ACTIVE SINGLE-PAYER
MOVEMENTS AND/OR PENDING LEGISLATION
• CALIFORNIA • MONTANA
• COLORADO • NEW JERSEY
• CONNECTICUT • NEW MEXICO
• GEORGIA • NEW YORK
• HAWAII • OHIO
• ILLINOIS • OREGON
• MAINE • PENNSYLVANIA
• MARYLAND • VERMONT
• MASSACHUSETTS • WASHINGTON
• MINNESOTA • WISCONSIN

5. Both houses of the California Legislature have
passed single-payer legislation not once, but
twice, spurred on by an economic impact study
that projected annual savings of $3.7 to $7.6
Billion. Governor Schwarzenegger twice vetoed
the bills, labeling them “socialized medicine.”
Fast forward to January 2012. Single-payer fails
by two votes in the California Senate thanks to 6
Democrats and their special-interest campaign
contributors . . .

7. Will Dr. Deb Richter and Governor Peter
Shumlin become the Tommy Douglas’s of the
United States by establishing a single-payer
healthcare system in Vermont?
Deb Richter: A Cure for Broken Health
Care
The YES! Breakthrough 15: Meet the doctor who uprooted her life to bring
universal health care to Vermont.
HOW TO BREAK THROUGH:
“I never felt like I had a choice about getting involved in this struggle … I couldn’t stop and I never
will.”
Dr. Deb Richter

9. State releases report on single-payer
plan
By CHRIS GAROFOLO / Reformer Staff
1/24/2012 03:00:00 AM EST
Tuesday January 24, 2012
BRATTLEBORO -- Officials in the process
of overhauling Vermont's
"unsustainable" health care system
released a 21-page report on how the
state will implement a single-payer plan
within the next three to five years….

10. Hawaii, thanks to an ERISA waiver, is the only state
with an employer mandate requiring employers to
provide employee healthcare benefits.
Hawaii has the second lowest uninsured rate among
the 50 states at 7.5% (U.S. Census Bureau)
Now Hawaii is fast-tracking a single-payer system that
will deliver healthcare for all.
The Hawaii Health Authority is an autonomous public
body tasked with developing a comprehensive health
plan that includes all individuals in Hawaii, and that is
seeking the waivers “that are necessary to implement
and maintain” universal health care.

11. 6 of the 9 members of the Hawaii Health Authority
Board are active members of Health Care for All
Hawaii, an organization dedicated to bringing single-
payer healthcare to Hawaii.
Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie was a co-sponsor of
HR 676 (House single-payer bill) when he was a member
of Congress.
On September 1, 2011 Governor Abercrombe appointed
Stephen Kemble, MD to the Hawaii Health Authority.
Kemble, a strong advocate for single-payer
healthcare, is also president-elect of the Hawaii chapter
of the American Medical Association (HMA) which
adopted his resolution in 2009 supporting single-payer
health care reform.

12. As Chair of the Senate Finance Committee,
Montana Senator Max Baucus refused to give
single-payer healthcare advocates a seat at the
table when he held hearings on healthcare
reform:
Max Baucus on single payer: "I’m not going to
waste my time"

13. Senator Max Baucus was pointedly asked why
single payer was not an option, and his
response was blunt: “I think at this time, in this
country, single payer is not going to get to first
base in the Congress. . . . Like it or not, health
reform is going to build upon what we already
have. “
Not everyone in his state agrees . . .

15. Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Wednesday he will ask
the U.S. government to let Montana set up its
own universal health care program, taking his
rhetorical fight over health care to another
level. [...] The popular second-term Democrat
would like to create a state-run system that
borrows from the program used in
Saskatchewan. He said the Canadian province
controls cost by negotiating drug prices and
limiting non-emergency procedures such as MRIs.

16. The Affordable Care Act provides for States to
establish alternative systems to the Exchanges
beginning in 2017.
Hawaii and Vermont are seeking to have those
waiver dates moved up to 2014 which would
leave them free to establish single-payer
systems in their respective states.
President Obama has endorsed moving up the
waiver dates to 2014 . . .

18. Mr. President, the time is now to use your
bully pulpit to persuade Congress to move
up the waiver dates.

19. SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE
EVERYBODY IN. NOBODY OUT!!!