State Legislators for Single-Payer, HR 676

Pennsylvania State Senator Jim Ferlo and NY State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried Launch New Campaign to Win State Legislator Support for HR 676

Help to build this movement by getting the Reps and Senators in your state to sign on.

State legislators know that state and local governments are in the worst financial crisis in decades, caused by two opposing forces. The severe recession has gutted government revenues, while public employee health care costs escalated at four times the rate of inflation over the last decade. Add to that the cost of health care states and local governments deliver to the low-income and uninsured, and there is no question that fixing health care is critical to balance state and local government budgets.

PA State Senator Jim Ferlo

Evidence shows that only a federal single-payer solution will lift this burden, guaranteeing coverage to every American, and controlling costs. Mixed public and private plan solutions won’t do either, leaving state and local governments in the same mess they’re in now.

Twenty-four state legislators signed the letter that went out to every State legislator in the U.S. – all 7,500 of them. The goal is to sign hundreds of legislators on to this campaign. Their united strength will add another national voice to the call for effective healthcare reform, joining health professionals, labor unions, faith- based organizations, patients, and human rights advocates that already embrace single-payer health care.

You can help to build this movement by getting the Reps and Senators in your state to sign on.

NY Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried

Follow-up actions include an appeal to President Obama and Members of the 111th Congress to appear in Roll Call, a widely read Washington, D.C. insider publication, press conferences, and soliciting endorsements from the National Conference of State Legislators, the National Governors Conference and others.

We need your help to make follow-up phone calls and visits to state legislators to make sure they read the mailed materials and follow-up on this appeal. They may have questions – we need local activists on hand to answer them. You can review the three-page mailing that went to every State legislator under "campaign resources" on the top left of this page.

Respond to Healthcare-NOW at info@healthcare-now.org or at 1-800-453-1305. Tell us which state legislators you will contact. If you are willing to be a regional or state-wide coordinator in this effort, that would be very helpful. You will find others who have assumed this role under "campaign resources" on the top left of this page.

Thank you for your help.