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Congressman Mike Doyle Issues Strong Statement in Favor of H.R. 676
Allegheny County Council Passes Resolution Supporting HR 676
Coalition Presents Two "Citizens' Forums"
Morton Mintz addresses Pittsburgh audience on business advantages of Single-Payer
Congressman Mike Doyle Issues Strong Statement in Favor of H.R. 676
Statement of
The Honorable Mike Doyle
Citizens Forum on Healthcare Reform
May 20, 2007
As someone who’s been a Member of Congress for more than 12 years now, and as a member of one of the two House committees with primary jurisdiction over the issue of health care, I’ve been in a good position to evaluate our current health care and health insurance systems and monitor the incremental changes that Congress has made to them over that period of time.
One thing has become increasingly clear to me in that time. Our current health care system is broken. The current slap-dash system isn’t working – and incremental changes can’t fix it. You fix one problem with Medicare or employer-provided insurance plans and the new policy has unintended consequences somewhere else in our health care system.
Employers are eliminating health care benefits or passing greater costs on to their employees. People who can still afford insurance are paying more and more out of pocket each year. And 45 million Americans can’t afford insurance at all – 5 million more than when President Bush took office. The rest of us pay a goodly part of their health care expenses in one way or another. If we’re going to do that, we might as well do it in a more efficient way!
That’s why I’ve come to the conclusion that we can’t keep simply tinkering around the edges. We need to move from the current system, in which hundreds of billions of dollars are wasted each year on paperwork and advertising, to one in which private health care providers continue to treat patients, but a single payer – the federal government – collects premiums from every American based on their ability to pay and pays providers just like it does under the traditional Medicare program. I believe that such a “single-payer” system is the best way to ensure that all Americans have access to high quality, affordable health care and most efficiently use the money we spend on health care. In the current Congress, I am a cosponsor of Congressman John Conyers’ single-payer bill – the National Health Insurance Act, HR 676 – and Congressman John Dingell’s Medicare for All Act, HR 2034.
I have been working with like-minded colleagues in the House to build support for single-payer legislation among our colleagues. Clearly, we’ve got a long way to go – but, no less clearly, the current system is getting worse, not better. It’s only a question of time, I believe, before most Americans come to a similar conclusion. I’m working to make sure that that day comes sooner rather than later. I hope I have your support in these efforts.
Allegheny County Council Passes Resolution Supporting HR 676
The Resolution was sponsored by Council President Rich Fitzgerald and Council Member John DeFazio; and co-sponsored by Council Members Cleary, Finnerty, Frazier, Burn, Macey, Lestitian, and Robinson.
The Resolution passed by a vote of 12-0-2, with Council Members Drozd and Rea abstaining, and Council Member Gastgeb not voting due to his absence at the meeting.
Also, please note that the Resolution was returned unsigned by the Chief Executive, Dan Onorato. Although Onorato did not sign the Resolution, it became law without his approval.
See and hear presentations by members of the Coalition
See and hear the discussion and the vote by County Council
Read the resolution (PDF).
Morton Mintz addresses Pittsburgh audience on business advantages of Single-Payer
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Morton Mintz, author and veteran reporter, visited Pittsburgh in April. He addressed an audience at CMU on business and single-payer healthcare. Below is a link to the text of his speech. "Business Sense, Common Sense and Healthcare" by Morton Mintz |
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Coalition Presents Two "Citizens' Forums"
In May and June of 2007, the Western PA Coalition for Single-Payer Healthcare held two Citizens' Forums. A broad range of citizens, including the uninsured, the underinsured, labor representatives, business owners, members of the clergy, doctors, nurses, social workers, elected officials and others, offered testimony about the inadequacies or the current system and the need for universal, single-payer healthcare reform. The Coalition hosted a Citizens' Hearing in May of 2006. A crowd of over 300 heard from Representative John Conyers of Michigan, the prime sponsor of HR 676. |
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Walter Tsou, M.D., former President of the American Public Health Association was the featured speaker at the Citizens' Forum in the South Hills. |
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Gabriel Silverman, President of the Student Alliance for Healthcare Reform (STAHR) was the featured Speaker at the Citizens' Forum in the North Hills. |
LIST of CO-SPONSORS: Healthcare-Now
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