Kane County Newspaper Headlines Mary Flower's Single-Payer Hearing (HB 311)!
Submitted by Illinoisnoki1 on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 13:36
Send to friendBreak through coverage of HB 311 Hearing
The hearing on the state's "Healthcare for All Illinois" bill, HB 311, sponsored by state representative Mary Flowers, received front page coverage in the Kane County Chronicle, Friday. This is Huge!
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Thursday night, Flowers, a Democratic state legislator from Chicago, hosted a special forum at the Kane County Government Center in Geneva to discuss legislation she introduced that would fundamentally alter the way in which health care is funded in Illinois.
The law, called House Bill 311, would in essence remove health insurance providers from the state’s medical system, creating a single-payer taxpayer-funded health care system in Illinois.
“I don’t know how to be rational and responsible about this,” Flowers said. “We are not for sale.
“This is finally about us.”
Other sponsors of the bill include State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, and House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago.
About 45 people turned out to listen and ask questions regarding the bill or offer testimony regarding their experiences with the health care system.
None spoke against the legislation.
Skala told the audience that the bill serves as an alternative to a state health care bill supported by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
That bill, he said, like other health care funding proposals currently circulating in Springfield and Washington, D.C., contain what Skala sees as the same essential flaws – attempting to help people obtain private health insurance.
That no longer is the answer, he said, as health insurance does not guarantee access to health care.
Rather, he said, the solution lies in creating a single-payer system, similar to those in place in European countries and Canada.
Skala said the system could be funded through a combination of savings obtained from billions of dollars wasted on administrative costs now associated with the American health care system and through income and payroll tax increases in the state.
But while taxes might rise, he said most people and businesses would actually realize a decrease in their health care spending, as the taxes would replace premiums now paid for health insurance.
However, HB 311 does not address a funding mechanism, to avoid the debate becoming one about taxes, Skala said.
Flowers and other speakers said the system must change to allow doctors, and not insurers, to make decisions regarding health care.
However, Skala and others said the single-payer system would also move to change the way doctors administer to care, from an emphasis on “high-tech specialized care” to one that emphasizes primary care.
That, in concert with reduced administrative costs and a negotiated fee structure between doctors and the government similar to those in place now with Medicare, would hold costs down, Skala said.
Under HB 311, all care would be covered, provided it is defined as “medically necessary,” Skala said.
“This time, this discussion is about us,” Skala said. “It’s about patients who can’t get access to the health care they need.
“And it’s about business owners who have to choose between providing health insurance to their employees and being in the red.”
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Comments
#1 Single-payer, not-for-profit, Healthcare for ALL!
Submitted by Yvonne White (not verified) on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 16:41.
This is THE MOST IMPORTANT Thing to do for Everyone in Illinois! The Federal Government is SO Behind the Times & seems SO Deaf to the Pleas of citizens!
But Illinois could be the First to DO IT Right!
THAT is: "...reduced administrative costs and a negotiated fee structure between doctors and the government similar to those in place now with Medicare, would hold costs down, Skala said.
Under HB 311, all care would be covered, provided it is defined as “medically necessary,” Skala said."
Medicare WORKS! All the bureaucracy is already in place. ALL Healthcare Should be covered and Every Doctor in Illinois Should Be Required to Accept this Illinois Medicare for All to keep practicing, the same should go for Tests & technicians, Hospitals, etc.
I'm tired of being scared of getting sick or being in an accident & NOT being insured.
My Union has negotiated a Future Healthcare Plan, but that's 2 years away & I'm getting older every day!;)
I remember too well that my family was forced to take bankruptcy in the 80's because I had an emergency surgery!:( THAT should NEVER happen to another family.
#2 Before you read any further,
Submitted by jegonana on Mon, 02/01/2010 - 06:12.
Before you read any further, ask yourself: did you pay any health tax last year? If yes, how much? If you answered no this question, let me ask another: do you own or rent a house or an apartment? Did you or your landlord pay any property taxes? Unless you are very unusual, you did pay some property taxes, either directly as a home owner or indirectly though your rent. And property taxes are taxes on wealth. One of the successes of the right wing has been to define only the Estate Tax as a wealth tax then to suggest that it is unfair. Part of this effort has been to re-label the Estate Tax as the "Death Tax," but it is perhaps better labeled the "Paris Hilton Tax." Sometimes this "unfairness" is alleged because only some people pay it. At other times, despite the inconsistency, it is "unfair" because it will force many people to deny their heirs the benefits of the labor of a lifetime, forcing the next generation to "make it on its own." My first point, then, is that we do tax wealth, both annually and at death. My second point, however, is that, yes, we do tax wealth unfairly but the inequity is not the one that right wing bloviators like to talk about. The unfairness resides in the disproportionate burden we place on property taxes rather than the broader Estate Tax.
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