Single Payer: Alive and Still Remarkably Well

[eridani]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-bergthold/single-payer---alive-and_b_3938385.html

As the country prepares for open enrollment October 1st in the insurance exchanges of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), a small group of dedicated artists and politicians in Pennsylvania have been working toward a broader solution. Catalyzed by a study by Professor Gerard Friedman of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst that estimated savings of $17B for Pennsylvania with a single payer approach, State Senator Jim Ferlo and an energetic group of young artists in Pennsylvania, decided they needed a comprehensive statewide system that would offer affordable health care to every citizen in Pennsylvania.

In March 2013, PA Senator Jim Ferlo and Representative Pam DeLissio re-introduced SB400, a bill Ferlo had introduced a year before to little fanfare and support. This time, Ferlo garnered support from a businessman and former Republican legislator, David Steil, as well as the activist group HealthCare4AllPA.

Noting the economic impact study, Steil said "As a business owner, we must get business out of health care because it perpetuates an already financially unsustainable system. A single payer system costs less, promotes free market principles, and creates jobs by improving the delivery of health care."