By Anne Scheetz, M.D.
Illinois Single Payer Coalition, Feb. 2, 2015
On Jan. 14, 2015, Representative Mary Flowers of Chicago introduced the Illinois Universal Health Care Act in the 99th Illinois General Assembly as House Bill 108.
Flowers first introduced the Illinois single-payer bill on Jan. 18, 2007, in the 95th Assembly, as the Healthy Illinois Act, HB 311. She has reintroduced the bill in each subsequent Assembly.
In 2011 the name was changed to the current one, chosen by vote by Illinois single-payer activists. In the 98th Assembly it was HB 942.
The 2007 bill garnered 30 sponsors. In the summer of 2008, Flowers conducted hearings around the state on the need for single-payer health care, and the 2009 bill gained 36 sponsors.
Support for the bill declined following the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act; the 2011 bill secured 8 sponsors, and the 2013 bill 6.
The bill when enacted would provide coverage for all necessary health care to all residents of the state with no deductibles, co-pays, or other cost sharing. Individuals would not have to search for and try to evaluate insurance policies on the exchanges. No one could lose their health insurance coverage for any reason. Employers would be relieved of the burden of providing health insurance to employees. State and local governments would see their health care spending significantly reduced. In order to create a single-tier system with the same benefits available to everyone, private insurance companies would not be allowed to sell coverage that would duplicate the comprehensive coverage provided by the state program.
Other important provisions of the bill:
- stress on public health and prevention
- coverage includes long-term care, mental health care, and dental care
- complete choice of providers
- practitioners may be salaried or paid fee for service
- hospitals, nursing homes, community health centers, non-profit staff model HMOs, and home health agencies receive global budgets for operations; this money may not be used for expansion, profit, excessive executive compensation, marketing, or major capital purchases or leases
- capital expenditures, including construction of new health facilities and purchase of expensive equipment, budgeted separately and overseen by regional health planning districts
- negotiated fees and prices
- no investor ownership of facilities that deliver health care
- re-education and job placement for people who lose their jobs due to the transition to a single-payer system
The complete text of the bill is available here.
The ISPC Legislative Committee is in the process of contacting all past sponsors of the bill, and new representatives known to support single-payer, to urge their sponsorship in the face of the ACA’s demonstrated inadequacies.