Single-payer health system best for Illinois, state lawmakers, activists say

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GENEVA – State Rep. Mary Flowers believes that insurance companies have a place in the market.

She just doesn’t think those companies have any place in providing health care.

Thursday night, Flowers, a Democratic state legislator from Chicago, hosted a special forum at the Kane County Government Center in Geneva to discuss  legislation she introduced that would fundamentally alter the way in which health care is funded in Illinois.

The law, called House Bill 311, would in essence remove health insurance providers from the state’s medical system, creating a single-payer taxpayer-funded health care system in Illinois.

“I don’t know how to be rational and responsible about this,” Flowers said. “We are not for sale.

“This is finally about us.”

Introduced in the General Assembly last year by Flowers, the bill was authored by policy analyst Nicholas Skala and others at Health Care for All Illinois, a group lobbying for a statewide single-payer health care system.

Other sponsors of the bill include State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, and House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago.

About 45 people turned out to listen and ask questions regarding the bill or offer testimony regarding their experiences with the health care system.

None spoke against the legislation.

Skala told the audience that the bill serves as an alternative to a state health care bill supported by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

That bill, he said, like other health care funding proposals currently circulating in Springfield and Washington, D.C., contain what Skala sees as the same essential flaws – attempting to help people obtain private health insurance.

That no longer is the answer, he said, as health insurance does not guarantee access to health care.

Rather, he said, the solution lies in creating a single-payer system, similar to those in place in European countries and Canada.

Skala said the system could be funded through a combination of savings obtained from billions of dollars wasted on administrative costs now associated with the American health care system and through income and payroll tax increases in the state.

But while taxes might rise, he said most people and businesses would actually realize a decrease in their health care spending, as the taxes would replace premiums now paid for health insurance.

However, HB 311 does not address a funding mechanism, to avoid the debate becoming one about taxes, Skala said.

Flowers and other speakers said the system must change to allow doctors, and not insurers, to make decisions regarding health care.

However, Skala and others said the single-payer system would also move to change the way doctors administer to care, from an emphasis on “high-tech specialized care” to one that emphasizes primary care.

That, in concert with reduced administrative costs and a negotiated fee structure between doctors and the government similar to those in place now with Medicare, would hold costs down, Skala said.

Under HB 311, all care would be covered, provided it is defined as “medically necessary,” Skala said.

“This time, this discussion is about us,” Skala said. “It’s about patients who can’t get access to the health care they need.

“And it’s about business owners who have to choose between providing health insurance to their employees and being in the red.”