[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 40 (Thursday, April 14, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 14, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         STATES SHOULD HAVE SINGLE PAYER OPTION ON HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. SANDERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, today, Congressman Kennedy and I will be 
sending to the President a letter signed by 112 Members of Congress, 
urging the President to stand firm against all attempts to delete the 
state single-payer option from his national health care program. 
Interestingly, 32 of those signers are not cosponsors of H.R. 1200, the 
House single-payer bill, but they also want States to have that freedom 
of choice.
  Study after study on the national level and in individual states such 
as my own State of Vermont, show that if we are serious about adopting 
a universal, comprehensive, cost-effective health care system that 
treats all people, rich and poor alike, then the single-payer approach 
is the only way to go.
  Mr. Speaker, as we know, the President included State option for 
single-payer in his health care plan. He understood, quite correctly, 
that different States have different needs and that it could be a 
positive thing for the country if some States went forward with the 
single-payer approach.
  But as we also know, there is enormous pressure from the insurance 
companies, the big money interests in health care, and from various 
Members of Congress, to delete that important section.
  Mr. Speaker, the House must not pass, and the President must not 
sign, any health care proposal which does not allow for the right of 
individual States to go forward with a single-payer health care system, 
which for millions of Americans is the only sensible approach to the 
current health crisis.

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