Nurses Call On Rep. Miller To Support Amendment Allowing States To Enact Single-Payer Health Reform

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 17 Jul 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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With debate underway in the House Education and Labor Committee today on the sweeping healthcare reform bill in that body, the nation's largest organization of registered nurses today called on Committee Chair George Miller to support a critical amendment that would enable individual states to go a step farther and adopt single-payer, Medicare-for-All style reforms.

The amendment by Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio would remove potential legal impediments for states to pass single-payer bills by waiving federal exemptions that apply to employer-sponsored health plans. The committee is expected to vote on the amendment later tonight or early tomorrow.

"Nurses across America - and the thousands of nurses in Rep. Miller's district - want genuine, comprehensive reform that addresses the patient care crisis we see every day. That is best achieved through a single-payer reform that is the most effective way to control costs, assure universality, and improve the quality of care," said Kay McVay, RN, president emeritus of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee.

"With Congress apparently poised to adopt legislation that many of us believe will not solve the crisis, and leave far too much power in the hands of the insurance industry, this amendment is critical to allowing states to show a different path that can become a national model," said McVay.

McVay, who is a resident of Rep. Miller's East Bay Area district, said she has spoken to thousands of other of Miller's constituents who strongly support single-payer reform. "We expect George Miller to show the leadership needed to give everyone a real choice of what kind of reform our nation, and our states need."

CNA/NNOC, which represents 86,000 RNs has been lobbying Miller and other members of Congress to support the Kucinich amendment.

Recent studies have documented that compared to people with private insurance, Medicare enrollees have greater access to care, fewer problems with medical bills, and greater satisfaction with their health plans and the quality of care they receive.

"Shouldn't that be the standard for the reform in our nation?" McVay asked, "and if you are not going to adopt Medicare for all in the national bill, why not allow individual states the opportunity to enact it."

Source
California Nurses Association