Ezra Klein: The State-Based Single Payer Strategy

[flpoljunkie]

The state-based single payer strategy

"Quite frankly," Sen. Bernie Sanders said today, "we don't have the votes for single payer." That's not much of a surprise, but Sanders did outline another strategy for single payer that some liberals might want to think about. "Right now," he explained, "we have language in the bill that says that states that want to go forward with single payer can do that." He's talking about the Waiver for State Innovation, which allows states to go their own way if they have a plan that will achieve the goals of the bill at a lower cost. You could imagine a state -- say, California, where the legislature has passed single-payer bills before only to see them vetoed by the governor -- using that provision to implement a single-payer system.

Sanders thought this the best strategy going forward. "I believe the way we move to single payer in this country is to let one state like California go first," he said. And before some of my conservative readers decide this is a liberal trapdoor in the middle of the bill, the provision could be used to develop a much more conservative approach to universal health care. In fact, it's a legislative expression of the GOP's third plank for health-care reform: "Give states the tools to create their own innovative reforms that lower health-care costs."

The health-care reform bill will create a basic, near-universal system across the country. If individual states think they can do better, they're welcome to try. And if they succeed, you could imagine those reforms spreading quickly to other states, too.

By Ezra Klein
March 10, 2010

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/03/the_state-based_single_payer_s.html

[Beetwasher]

1. Bernie Sanders=Corporate Whore

:sarcasm:

[Captain Hilts]

2. Many states do not give a shit about their (poor) people. A race to the bottom. nt

[Hello_Kitty]

4. My state, AZ, has a ballot referendum that pretty much puts the kibosh on it.

Amends the state's constitution so that people cannot be forced to have insurance. HCR will supersede that at the national level but I assume it would apply to any state based plan.

[Hello_Kitty]

3. Can the insurance cos. sue though? eom

[TwilightGardener]

5. I was under the impression that Canada went province-by-province

in enacting its system. Maybe this is the best way to go about a single-payer.

[Captain Hilts]

7. Yes. They run it by province. In Ontario, it's Ontario Health Insurance Plan. OHIP. nt

[customerserviceguy]

6. Any states that go it alone

will see people with chronic illnesses eventually move to those states. The states that they move from will probably give them gas money to leave.

[Captain Hilts]

8. Yes. It's much easier to move from state to state in this country. nt

[Oregone]

9. Is it legal for a state to ban private companies and monopolize an industry?

Do states that decide to go ahead have adequate protection under law?