- Kucinich Amendment Grants ERISA Waiver for Single Payer States.
- Sanders Senate Amendment Would Expand Support for Single Payer States
The Center for Policy Analysis worked closely with Congressional staff to craft the two amendments to health reform legislation that offer the greatest prospects for single payer supporters.
Summary
Some state and local governments that have attempted to expand health care coverage have been successfully challenged in court under the terms of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). ERISA pre-empts states from enacting legislation if it is "related to" employee benefit plans. It reserves that right to the federal government. Section 514 of ERISA states that Title V (Administration and Enforcement) and Title IV (Fiduciary Responsibility) of ERISA “shall supercede any and all State laws insofar as they may… relate to any employee benefit plan.” There is no provision for an administrative waiver of these rules.
The Kucinich amendment to HR 3200, approved by a recorded vote of the House Education and Labor Committee, would remove this barrier for states that have enacted and signed into law a single payer system.
What the Amendment Does
The Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, would be authorized and required to waive the ERISA pre-emption (Sec. 514) for states that have enacted a state single payer system. In this case, the Secretary could decline to grant the waiver only under extraordinary circumstances. The system would have to meet requirements, and the Secretary could revoke the waiver if it fails to do so.
The state single payer system is defined as a non-profit program of the state for providing health care to all residents. A single state agency would finance and administer the provision of comprehensive benefits that meet or exceed the standards for coverage and quality described in HR 3200, and assure free choice of health care providers. Private insurance that duplicates this coverage would be prohibited. Health maintenance organizations could operate on a non-profit basis if they also own their facilities and provide services directly. The system would not result in greater costs to the federal government. At the same time, the federal government would maintain the equivalent level of support as provided to other states, accounting for variations such as population and demographics. States could seek planning and start-up funds.
What the Amendment Does Not Do
A state single payer amendment was proposed by Senator Sanders. It is more detailed than the Kucinich amendment because it would cover matters beyond the jurisdiction of the House Education and Labor Committee. These include:
- Dedicated funding for planning and implementation grants;
- Specific allocations of funds from existing federal health programs, and waivers to permit coordination with those programs;
- Quality assurance and health professional training programs associated with other federal programs.
Click here to download Kucinich ERISA waiver
Click here to download Sanders amendment
Click here to download above summary of Kucinich amendment
Source: Center for Policy Analysis
Federally sponsored single-payer health care might be off the table as Congress debates its health reform strategy this summer, but if some House lawmakers get their way, there would be nothing to prevent states from offering that model.
The House Education & Labor Committee voted today in favor of an amendment, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), eliminating legal barriers that might prevent states from adopting a Medicare-style system of health coverage.
The vote was 25 to 19, with support coming from an odd mix of liberal Democrats who support single-payer on its merits and conservative Republicans who want to preserve the rights of states to regulate themselves.
The vote is largely symbolic. Cash-strapped states likely won’t be able to rustle up the funding to cover all their residents without federal help, even if they did support the concept politically. Still, some health care groups are cheering the House vote nonetheless. The California Nurses Association, for example, issued a statement calling the vote “a historic moment for patients.”
If the provision were to become law, CNA argues, single-payer supporters could move their lobbying battle from Washington to state capitals.
Kucinich offered his own take on the significance of the push.
“By getting rid of the for-profit insurance companies,” the Ohio liberal said in a statement, “we can save $400 billion per year and provide coverage for all medically necessary services for everyone in the U.S.”
Source: The Washington IndependentFrom Representative Kucinich: The amendment propels the growing single payer health care movement at the state level. There are at least ten states which have active single payer efforts in their legislatures. They are California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington. The amendment mandates a single payer state will receive the right to waive the application of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which has in the past been used to nullify efforts to exjavascript:void(0)pand state or local government health care.
Under the Kucinich Amendment a state's application for a waiver from ERISA is granted automatically if the state has signed into law a single payer plan. With the amendment, for the first time, the state single payer health care option is shielded from an ERISA-based legal attack. Now that the underlying bill has been passed, as amended, by the full committee, we must make sure that Congress knows that we want the provision kept in the bill at final passage!
The state single payer option was one of five major amendments which I obtained support to get included in HR3200. One amendment brings into standard coverage for the first time complementary and alternative medicine, (integrative medicine). Another amendment drives down the cost of prescription drugs by ending pharmaceutical industry's sharp practices manipulating physician prescribing habits. An amendment stops the insurance industry from increasing premiums at the time when people are not permitted to change health plans; and finally an amendment imposing a requirement on insurance companies that they disclose the cost of advertising, marketing and executive compensation expenses (which generally divert money from patient care).
Please make sure you post this message on your social networking sites, ask all your friends to get involved and encourage everyone you know to sign up at www.Kucinich.us so we can build full momentum behind this movement for real health care.
|
