News Release

Pelosi Ditches Single-Payer Provision

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CLARK NEWHALL
Executive director of Health Justice, Newhall is a doctor and a lawyer. He said today: “Thursday the House Democrats released their version of healthcare reform. While we have been pushing for a debate on the House floor for single payer, and been calling for the representatives to keep the Kucinich [Amendment]. … It seems House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lied. … [The Kucinich Amendment] allowing states to create state-level single-payer healthcare has been stripped out of the House healthcare bill, after having passed in committee back in July by a vote of 27 to 19.”

Health Justice has produced a series of ads on healthcare.

DEBORAH BURGER, CHARLES IDELSON
Burger is a co-president of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee. Idelson is a spokesperson for the group. Idelson said: “In July, the House Labor and Education Committee approved an amendment introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich that would exempt states that enact Medicare for all / single-payer bills from the onerous limitations contained in the federal ERISA law governing employer sponsored health plans.

“Since then a rogues’ gallery of Fortune 500 corporate interests and insurance lobbyists have put a lot of pressure on the House leadership to strip the Kucinich Amendment from the final bill going to the House floor.”

Single payer legislation, which would replace private health insurance with one plan that covers everyone, like an expanded and enhanced Medicare, has in recent years twice passed the California legislature but been vetoed by the governor.

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167