Single Payer: Coming to a Liberal State Near You
The Teahuggers were right. Obamacare really IS just a steppingstone to that there Socialized Medicine. Works for me.
Until I saw Froma Harrop's column yesterday, I didn't know about Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act. Under Section 1332, beginning in 2017, states will be able to apply for “innovation waivers.” Under these innovation waivers, a state can choose its own path to health care reform, even if this path is different from those that are spelled out in the Affordable Care Act.
These individual routes to health care reform will have to meet the minimum requirements of the ACA. But it's OK if a state exceeds those requirements. And this paves the way for Single Payer.
Several states have indicated that they plan on using Section 1332 to start implementing a Single Payer system. These states include Vermont, Washington, Oregon, California, New York, Maryland, Colorado and Hawaii.
It's a start. After that, it'll get harder and harder for the rest of the country to not follow suit. Soon we'll all be sliding down that Slippery Slope to Communism.
In her column, Froma Harrop spells out the obvious (if you're not a Republican): “By the way, Canada’s [single payer] system is not socialized medicine but socialized insurance (like Medicare). In Canada, the doctors work for themselves.”
Whether the teabaggers and Foxsuckers like it or not, America is slowly being dragged kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century.
Labels: innovation waivers, Section 1332
posted by Tom Harper @ 8:24 PM
15 Comments:
We wish, baby.
But not in NC.
We are dead in the water here until we can get rid of the Koch-scum infesting our General Assembly.
Love ya,
C
Tom Said "Soon we'll all be sliding down that Slippery Slope to Communism."
It's not Communism, it'll be States Rights which is a core Conservative Value (unless a Liberal does it and/or if they disagree with it). And we wont be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century, For Europe and Canada, we should have been dragged into the 20th Century
Erik
And the more the GOP and TP complain about the ACA and try to do away with it, the faster they push the rest of us to single payer.
I bet Washington state will jump on the bandwagon as well.
Cirze: I think the worst of the teabag politicians are expected to be swept out in the 2014 election. I hope that's what happens in NC.
Erik: It's almost funny the way conservatives keep flipflopping on states' rights. Sometimes they get all poetic about "50 individual experiments in democracy" and sometimes it's "No! Bring in the federal government! Stamp it out Now!"
Jerry: That's exactly what they're doing. Their motto seems to be "We're in a hole. Keep digging. Faster!"
Jim: Washington could be the first state to have gay marriage, legal pot AND single payer. My kind of state.
I really hope that happens. It would make more sense for the federal government to run the system, but that's all right. In the last few years, we've seen a few significant steps in a positive direction: some sensible healthcare changes and the slowing of the war on drugs. I guess there's a glimmer of hope after all.
Ton,
that's because Washington is filled with Ex-Californians whom, in spite of their fears actually DID Californianize Washington.
Now we have to purge the Ex Mid-westerners who moved out here to thaw, and pass these reforms ourselves.
Erik
The GREAT state of Washington, for sure! I'm amazed at what WA has done, especially considering the large right-wing metro areas (Spokane, and to a less extent Tri-Cities) it has to deal with east of the Cascades.
I hope Oregon will get on board with the pot legalization and gay marriage. I don't see how it can't sooner or later. It's a good thing that the left wing voters in Eugene and Portland pretty much outnumber the conservative voters in the rest of the state. Oregon is basically a red state with a large concentration of Democrats and progressive voters in the most populated areas.
The people out here in the sticks where I live who hate Obama and anything Democrat outnumber people like me at rates of about 7-3, and it's more like 4-1 in some areas. Most of them hate the ACA, gay marriage, and pot. So, when the time comes that those things are all legalized here I won't be saying "ha ha ha" because I value my life... but I will be smiling.
Satsu Imo: I agree, there's a glimmer of hope for reforming health care and scaling back the war on drugs.
Erik: That's true about Californians moving to the Northwest, and a lot of Californians being from the Midwest originally. I had an uncle, who lived in Iowa, who told me Long Beach, CA used to be called "Iowa's largest city."
Snave: I think Port Angeles, before I got here, used to be much more rightwing. With all the Californians and Seattle-ites that have moved here, it's probably about 50-50 now. The central and eastern parts of Washington and Oregon are definitely more conservative. For that matter, the desert and agricultural regions of California are pretty rightwing too.
But someday, these areas will end up accepting single payer health care, same-sex marriage and legal pot; and they'll wonder what the fuss was all about.
"But someday, these areas will end up accepting single payer health care, same-sex marriage and legal pot; and they'll wonder what the fuss was all about. "
And I wonder what will be the GOP hot button issues to keep their folk away from the real issues.
Jerry: Don't worry, the GOP leaders will always be able to find new hot button issues, new ways to push the Hate and Fear buttons and keep their base all riled up.
CA has had one law written up, going around and around for a few years now, that Ahnuld vetoed when it came up before him. They need to get on the ball here in CA and the dominoes will fall is my not so humble opinion.
Jerry, by then aliens from another galaxy will have landed and the GOP will have a whole new immigrant group to kick around.
Jess: That's good news. Hopefully Jerry will sign it now that Ahnuld is out of the way.
Jim: LOL.
If it's aliens from other worlds, they will probably have better weapons than the Republicans will. I advocate the aliens using their STFU rays.
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