2019 -- S 0289

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

RESPECTFULLY URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO PASS LEGISLATION

ESTABLISHING AN IMPROVED "MEDICARE FOR ALL" SINGLE PAYER PROGRAM

THAT WOULD PROVIDE UNIVERSAL, COMPREHENSIVE AND AFFORDABLE

HEALTH CARE

     Introduced By: Senators Bell, Nesselbush, Quezada, Miller, and Seveney

     Date Introduced: February 13, 2019

     Referred To: Senate Health & Human Services

     WHEREAS, Between 1991 and 2014, health care spending in Rhode Island per person

rose by over 250 percent, rising much faster than income and greatly reducing disposable income;

and

     WHEREAS, It is estimated that by 2025, the cost of health insurance for an average

family of four will equal about one-half of their annual income; and

     WHEREAS, In the United States, about two-thirds of personal bankruptcies have been

medical cost-related and of these, about three-fourths of those bankrupted had health insurance;

and

     WHEREAS, Rhode Island private businesses bear most of the costs of employee health

insurance coverage and spend significant time and money choosing from a confusing array of

increasingly expensive plans which do not provide comprehensive coverage; and

     WHEREAS, Rhode Island employees and retirees are losing significant wages and

pensions as they are forced to pay higher amounts of health insurance and health care costs; and

     WHEREAS, Rhode Island and its municipalities face enormous Other Post-Employment

Benefits (OPEB) unfunded liabilities, mostly due to health insurance costs; and

     WHEREAS, Although Rhode Island significantly expanded health care coverage for its

citizens under the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), about 45,000 Rhode Islanders remain

uninsured, and even fully implemented, the ACA would leave 42,000 Rhode Islanders (4 percent)

uninsured and many more underinsured - resulting in numerous deaths per year; and

     WHEREAS, Efforts at the federal level to repeal or defund the ACA, Medicare and

Medicaid further threaten the health and welfare of Rhode Islanders; and

     WHEREAS, The United States has hundreds of health insurance carriers (i.e., multiple

"payers") who make our health care system unjustifiably inefficient and expensive, with about

one-third of every health care dollar going towards administrative costs and not towards actual

health care; and

     WHEREAS, Every industrialized nation in the world, except the United States, offers

universal health care to its citizens under a "single payer" program and enjoys better health

outcomes for about one-half the cost; and

     WHEREAS, Health care is rationed under our current multi-payer system, despite the

fact that Americans already pay enough money to have comprehensive and universal health

insurance under a single-payer system; and

     WHEREAS, Single payer health care would establish a true "free market" system where

doctors compete for patients rather than health insurance companies dictating which patients are

able to see which doctors and setting reimbursement rates; and

     WHEREAS, The high costs of medical care could be lowered significantly if the state

could negotiate on behalf of all its residents for bulk purchasing, as well as gain access to usage

and price information currently kept confidential by private health insurers as "proprietary

information"; and

     WHEREAS, Proposed federal improved Medicare for All single payer legislation

introduced in the 115th Congress would have provided comprehensive coverage by substituting

lower amounts of increased taxes for higher amounts of premiums, co-pays, deductibles and

payments for amounts in excess of caps; and

     WHEREAS, Such comprehensive coverage would have included vision, hearing and

dental care, mental health and substance abuse services, as well as prescription medications,

medical equipment, supplies, diagnostics and treatments; and

     WHEREAS, Health care providers will benefit under improved Medicare for All single

payer because they will spend significantly less time with administrative work caused by multiple

health insurance company requirements and barriers to care delivery and will spend significantly

less for overhead costs because of streamlined billing; and

     WHEREAS, There is extensive research that shows an improved Medicare for All single

payer program will benefit all Americans by providing universal comprehensive affordable health

care coverage and establishing a funding system that is public, progressive, sustainable and

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contains health care costs; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby recognizes the need for the United States government to implement an improved Medicare

for All single payer program and hereby respectfully urges Congress to pass single payer

legislation as previously introduced in Congress; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the clerk of the United States House of

Representatives, the clerk of the United States Senate, and to members of the Rhode Island

Congressional Delegation.

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