2021 -- S 0230

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LC001012

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

CREATING A SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION TO STUDY AND ASSESS THE

IMPLEMENTATION OF MEDICARE-FOR-ALL SINGLE PAYER PROGRAM IN RHODE

ISLAND

     

     Introduced By: Senators Mendes, Acosta, Calkin, Mack, Bell, Kallman, Cano,
Anderson, Quezada, and Valverde

     Date Introduced: February 10, 2021

     Referred To: Senate Health & Human Services

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     WHEREAS, Rising health care costs are a major economic threat to Rhode Islanders,

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with health care spending in Rhode Island per person, rising faster than income and greatly

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reducing disposable income; and

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     WHEREAS, It is estimated that by 2025, the cost of health insurance for an average

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family of four may equal their annual income; and

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     WHEREAS, In the U.S., about two-thirds of personal bankruptcies have been medical

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cost-related and of these, about three-fourths of those bankrupted had health insurance; and

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     WHEREAS, Rhode Island private businesses bear most of the costs of employee health

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insurance coverage and spend significant time and money choosing from a confusing array of

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increasingly expensive plans which do not provide comprehensive coverage; and

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     WHEREAS, Rhode Island employees and retirees are losing significant wages and

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pensions as they are forced to pay higher amounts of health insurance and health care costs; and

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     WHEREAS, The state and its municipalities face enormous Other Post-Employment

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Benefits (OPEB) unfunded liabilities mostly due to health insurance costs; and

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     WHEREAS, Although Rhode Island significantly expanded health care coverage for its

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citizens under the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), it is not enough. Currently, about 38,000

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Rhode Islanders remain uninsured, and even fully implemented, the ACA would leave many

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Rhode Islanders uninsured and many more underinsured - resulting in many excess deaths; and

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     WHEREAS, Efforts at the federal level to repeal or defund the ACA, severely threaten

 

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the health and welfare of Rhode Island citizens; and

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     WHEREAS, The U.S. has hundreds of health insurance providers (i.e., multiple

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“payers”) who make our health care system unjustifiably expensive and ineffective; and

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     WHEREAS, Every industrialized nation in the world, except the United States, offers

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universal health care to its citizens under a "single payer" program and enjoys better health

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outcomes for about one-half the cost; and

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     WHEREAS, About one-third of every health care dollar spent in the U.S. goes towards

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administrative costs (e.g., paperwork, overhead, CEO salaries, and profits) rather than on actual

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health care; and

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     WHEREAS, Health care is rationed under our current multi-payer system, despite the

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fact that Rhode Islanders already pay enough money to have comprehensive and universal health

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insurance under a single-payer system; and

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     WHEREAS, The solution is for Rhode Island to institute an improved Medicare-for-all

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type single payer program; and

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     WHEREAS, Single payer health care would establish a true “free market” system where

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doctors compete for patients rather than health insurance companies dictating which patients are

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able to see which doctors and setting reimbursement rates; and

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     WHEREAS, The high costs of medical care could be lowered significantly if the state

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could negotiate on behalf of all its residents for bulk purchasing, as well as gain access to usage

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and price information currently kept confidential by private health insurers as “proprietary

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information”; and

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     WHEREAS, In 1962, Canada’s successful single payer program began in the province of

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Saskatchewan (with approximately the same population as Rhode Island) and became a national

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program within ten years; and

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     WHEREAS, Single payer would provide comprehensive coverage that would include

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vision, hearing and dental care, mental health and substance abuse services, as well as

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prescription medications, medical equipment, supplies, diagnostics and treatments; and

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     WHEREAS, Health care providers would spend significantly less time with

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administrative work caused by multiple health insurance company requirements and barriers to

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care delivery and would spend significantly less for overhead costs because of streamlined

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billing; and

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     WHEREAS, Rhode Island must act because there are currently no effective state or

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federal laws that can adequately control rising premiums, co-pays, deductibles and medical costs,

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or prevent private insurance companies from continuing to limit available providers and

 

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coverage; and

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     WHEREAS, "Public option," "Medicare buy-in," and "state Medicaid buy-in" proposals

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all keep intact our administratively inefficient, expensive, fragmented, dysfunctional health care

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financing system while merely adding administratively complex options; and

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     WHEREAS, In 2018, Rhode Island House Bill 7285, based on an analysis by Professor

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Gerald Friedman of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, proposed a single payer program

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for the state, including a funding mechanism, and this bill has been "held for further study"; and

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     WHEREAS, In 2021, similar legislation will be introduced again in the General

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Assembly and will likely again be "held for further study"; now, therefore be it

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     RESOLVED, That a special legislative commission be and the same is hereby created

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consisting of eleven (11) members: two (2) of whom shall be members of the Rhode Island

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Senate, to be appointed by the President of the Senate; three (3) of whom shall be health care

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providers, two (2) of whom shall be primary care physicians, to be appointed by the President of

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the Senate; two (2) of whom shall represent employers who provide health insurance to

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employees, to be appointed by the President of the Senate; two (2) of whom shall be union

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representatives, to be appointed by the President of the Senate; and two (2) of whom shall be

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university professors of economics, to be appointed by the President of the Senate.

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      The appointing authority may appoint a member of the general public to serve in lieu of

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a legislator.

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     The purpose of said commission shall be to make a comprehensive study to determine the

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pros and cons of implementing a single payer program in Rhode Island.

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     Vacancies in said commission shall be filled in like manner as the original appointment.

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     The membership of said commission shall receive no compensation for their services.

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     All departments and agencies of the state shall furnish such advice and information,

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documentary and otherwise, to said commission and its agents as is deemed necessary or

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desirable by the commission to facilitate the purposes of this resolution.

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     The Joint Committee on Legislative Services is hereby authorized and directed to provide

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suitable quarters for said commission; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That the commission shall report its findings and recommendations to the

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Senate no later than one year from the date of passage, and said commission shall expire two

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years from the date of passage.

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LC001012

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