State Legislators Launch Effort to Push HR 676
A group of state legislators has initiated a nationwide effort to publish an Appeal to President Obama and members of the 111th Congress to support HR 676, single payer healthcare legislation introduced in Congress by Representative John Conyers, Jr. and 75 co-sponsors.
Twenty four state legislators, from 16 states, have sent a copy of the Appeal to all 7,500 state legislators in the United States asking them to add their names to The Appeal which will be published in Roll Call, a widely read Capitol Hill publication.
The legislators, in their letter, cite the growing “economic crisis” and “badly strained” state budgets as the reason why they are asking “The U.S. Congress … to heal our hemorrhaging state budgets while bringing comprehensive quality health care to all our people, by passing HR 676….”
Co-conveners of the campaign are State Senator Jim Ferlo of Pittsburgh and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried of New York. Senators and representatives from Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia and
Wisconsin also signed the letter.
Kay Tillow, Coordinator of the All Unions Committee for Single Payer Health Care—HR 676, welcomed the effort by these state legislators and urged everyone to contact their own state senator and representative and ask them to sign the Appeal.
“State legislators,” Tillow said, “are caught in a vice of escalating healthcare costs, driven largely by the for-profit insurance industry and declining revenues. Without a national single payer system, state budgets will continue in crisis and health needs will not be met.”
The ‘Dear Colleague” letter, the ‘Appeal’ and other materials can be found at: http://www.healthcare-now.org/campaigns/state-legislators/
As a retiree, even though I currently carry healthcare from previous employment, the costs have escalated exponentially. When I retired in 2001, the cost for a single person were hovering around $400+. This amount keeps rising and has been allayed somewhat as I reached Medicare eligibility age, but within 18 months I will be paying the monthly cost out of my pension. That will suck 1/2 of my pension benefit right off the top–leaving a significant hole in my monthly budget.
I am sick and tired of being dunned and cheated by the greedy insurance companies and HMOs. Their exorbitant costs, sticking it to really ill people, is the most heinous crime of the century, along with the banks. And the politicians had better get on board, or they will be out on their closed ears instead of sitting on their behinds doing nothing while they collect their over-generous, tax-paid salaries and benefits. What a bunch of ingrates, especially Baucus.
I am still healthy enough now not to need extraordinary medicare care, but that can change at any time.
Our state legislators in Wisconsin, in particular Senator Jon Erpenbach and a few Democrats, have been working on this issue with pending legislation for several years. They should be commended for having the foresight to devise a state healthcare program in case the federal effort lacks impetus. If only the population would pay attention and actively get off their duffs as well.
Our economic fdotoaniun is being degraded in favor of designing a virtual economy. Since Obama demonstrates a progressive inability to comprehend the limitations of reality, he commands that the virtual economy be inflated. It’s all about perception. The realization of consequences from his mother of all bubbles will be delayed until it can no longer be ignored.Just as the welfare policies sabotaged human development, this latest effort has achieved the same outcome.Well, at least he feels good. That’s really what’s important anyway: out of sight and out of mind.