RI Senate Resolution Calls For National Single-Payer Health Care

PROVIDENCE, RI — The Rhode Island Senate approved a resolution Tuesday calling for national lawmakers to create a single-payer health care system. Sponsored by Sen. Jeanine Calkin, the legislation points to major cracks in the existing system made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Health care is a human right," Calkin said. "Every other industrialized nation in the world provides it to citizens, and their results are better health at a much lower cost. We must face the facts: America’s systems are not providing effective health care, are costing far too much, and are leaving far too many people without the health care they need."

More than 100 people attended the virtual Health and Human Services Committee committee meeting March 4, voicing their support for the resolution, as well as other legislation aimed at moving towards a single-payer system.

"Our poor, our middle class and our minority communities are disproportionately harmed by the resulting high costs and the lack of available health resources, and the disparities have been clearly illustrated by the widespread suffering and death they have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic," Calkin continued. "There is a world of evidence. It’s high time we took action to move toward universal health."

The resolution voices concerns about tying health insurance to employment, citing the high number of Rhode Islanders who lost their jobs amid a staggering public health crisis. It also disparages the high administrative costs of the current multi-payer system.

"About one-third of every ‘health care’ dollar spent in the U.S. is wasted on unnecessary administrative costs and excessive pharmaceutical company profits due to laws preventing Medicare from negotiating prices," the resolution reads in part.

According to Calkin, per-person health care spending in Rhode Island increased 250 percent from 1991 to 2014, far outpacing wage increases to make health insurance increasingly unaffordable for families.