Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition

StarTribune February 26, 2010
Lori Sturdevant
The possibility that Americans would join hands and buy health care all together has found no traction in Washington. But at the DFL-controlled Minnesota Legislature, the idea has been quietly marching through committees, three in the Senate, one in the House.

The Minnesota Health Plan is propelled in the Senate by former and current DFL gubernatorial candidate John Marty, a seven-term legislator from Roseville... Read More

Published 2-12-10 AlterNet
by, John Byrne

MNdaily.com
Jan 20, 2010
by Ragav Mehta

On January 7,2010 The Congressional Progressive Caucus sent a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reiterating progressive demands for the conference committee bill.  In it they reaffirm commitment to a public option, state single-payer, abolishing the insurance industry anti-trust exemption and House affordability standards.  Read the letter here. The letter contains a helpful comparison of the Senate and House bills.

Like about a dozen other states, Florida is debating a proposed amendment to its state constitution that would try to block, at least symbolically, much of the proposed federal health care overhaul on the grounds that it tramples individual liberty...

...Insurance companies, hospitals and other health care interests have been positioning themselves in statehouses around the country to influence the outcome of the proposed health care overhaul. Around the 2008 election, the groups that provide health care contributed about $102 million to state political campaigns across the country, surpassing the $89 million the same donors spent at the federal level, according to the institute... Read the full article

Comment: Governor Pawlenty has talked about using "states rights" to opt out of federal reforms, Rep. Tom Emmer, Republican gubernatorial candidate has put forth a proposal on a constitutional amendment guaranteeing a right to buy private insurance.  They aren't trying to protect consumers and constituents, they are trying to protect the insurance industry. After the federal reform bill is passed, the fight will come to the states.  Help the Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition be prepared to fight back.  Please make a  donation now!

By Robert Pear
December 24, 2009
New York Times

The Senate voted Thursday to reinvent the nation's health care system... TheThe 60-to-39 party-line vote, starting at 7:05 a.m. on the 25th straight day of debate on the legislation, brings Democrats closer to a goal they have pursued for decades and brings President Obama a step closer to success in his signature domestic initiative. When the roll was called, with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. presiding, it was the first time the Senate had gathered for a vote on Christmas Eve since 1895.

Read the article

by Eric Black
December 22, 2009
MinnPost.com

It is reasonably likely that single-payer health care will be on the ballot in Minnesota in 2010.

Sound crazy? Maybe it is crazy...

...at least six of the 10 DFL candidates for governor not only support single-payer but support a plan that would make Minnesota a first-in-the-nation, one-state-only, single-payer state...*

Read the full article

* coming soon: MUHCC gubernatorial candidates survey.  The support is stronger than this article suggests.

"Yes" on Senate Amendment 2837

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont introduced an amendment to the Senate leadership's health bill that would delete the bulk of that bill's language and substitute the wording of his single-payer, Medicare-for-All bill, S. 703. Under Senate rules, his amendment will go straight to the floor for debate. The vote could come very soon.

Sanders measure, known as Senate Amendment 2837, would create "a universal, single-payer health insurance system" that is federally funded but administered by the states. It was introduced with two co-sponsors, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Sen. Roland Burris of Illinois, although there are others such as Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, chair of the important Senate HELP committee, who are likely to vote for it.

Please urge your senators to vote "yes" on Senate Amendment 2837 as quickly as you can. The time factor is critical.

Senator Amy Klobuchar: 202-224-3244
Senator Al Franken: 202-224-5641

While we will not achieve single payer this time around, it's significant (and historic) that we took it from a non-starter position to a place on the Senate floor. It seems like a small deal, but it is huge. The vote will also give us a chance to find out who is willing to stand up in the Senate for the only just, workable and cost-effective option: single payer.

Read a press release from Physicians for a National Health Program
Read Senator Sanders' Talking Points

By Mary Susan Littlepage
Thursday November 5, 2009
Truthout

After Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), lobbied throughout the past week to get his amendment calling for a single-payer health care system modeled after Medicare back on the table, the House rejected Kucinich's attempts to reinsert the amendment in the bill.

That's after a committee stripped the amendment from the House health care bill without giving him any advanced explanation...

...The congressman also said he doesn't accept the decision to remove the amendment from the bill, and he said that there would be one more chance for the American people to push for a single-payer system.

"Once the health care bill passes the House, and the Senate passes its version, the two bills will go to a Conference Committee," Kucinich said. "It is at this point that we will have one more chance. We need to insist that the Kucinich Amendment be included in the Conference Committee report, since that is what will ultimately become law."  Read the article

by Daniel Barlow
Times Argus, Vermont
October 29, 2009

U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders will likely make history this year when - for the first time ever - he brings a bill creating a national single-payer health care system to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

As a compromise on a public-option plan that would allow states to opt out gains steam in the U.S. Senate, Sanders, a Vermont independent, continues to focus his attention on a single-payer bill, although he acknowledges that there are not enough votes to pass it...

...Knowing that his single-payer bill is likely to fail, Sanders said he also plans to try including a provision in the final health-care bill that would allow states such as Vermont to experiment with a single-payer system on a state level. Read full article