How many are aware of this proposal, set to be put to the public in Nov, 2007?
http://www.healthcareforallcolorado.org/index.php?p=2&ID=300&d=1This Bill was written by Dr. Rocky White, of Alamosa.
Here is the beginning of the Rationale behind the Bill:
http://www.healthcareforallcolorado.org/index.php?p=955&ID=343&d=1Background of the Colorado Draft Bill for Single Payer Health Care
The enclosed bill was written to follow a single payer model and to tailor it specifically for the state of Colorado. Understandably, there is a lot of fear generated over the idea of a single payer system. This paper and this bill were written to address and to help alleviate those fears.
To most Americans, a single payer system at its best translates into a giant Medicare-type bureaucracy and at its worse into socialized medicine. A single payer system could be either one of those, but this proposal is neither.
In its purest sense, "single payer" is just that -- one entity that oversees the financing of health care. There are numerous countries around the world that follow this model, yet they all do it differently and independently with their own unique solutions. In fact, right here in the United States, we have several different single payer models -- all of which have their own virtues and short comings. These programs include: Medicare, Medicaid, the Indian Health Services, the Veterans Administration, and the military. In fact, the military is truly socialized medicine.
We have before us the unique opportunity to review what is good and what is bad in single payer systems, to assimilate that information, and to forge a truly sound, just, viable, and sustainable health care system. This program can achieve that.
There are four basic components to any health care system:
coverage and benefits.
financing.
delivery of care and infrastructure.
governance.