RI Senate OKs Calkin Plea For Single-Payer Health Care In US

WARWICK, RI — The Rhode Island Senate has approved a resolution sponsored by Sen. Jeanine Calkin urging the U.S. Congress to establish a single-payer health care system. The move came after more than 100 people turned out to support health care reform during a lengthy Health and Human Services Committee virtual hearing on March 4.

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“Health care is a human right," said Calkin, a Warwick Democrat, in a statement. "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.”

Calkin said the nation’s poor, middle class and minority communities are disproportionately harmed by the high cost of health care, and that disparities have been worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said when health insurance is tied to employment, it creates disruption when people lose their jobs. She also asserted that the current system is inefficient and diverts resources away from actually caring for people’s needs.

“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,” Calkin’s resolution states.

Calkin said that between 1991 and 2014, per-person health care spending in Rhode Island rose by over 250 percent, far exceeding growth in disposable income. She said the cost of health insurance for an average family of four is not affordable.

The state senator said two-thirds of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are related to medical costs, and that about three-quarters of those individuals had health insurance at the onset of their medical problems.