Health Care

Why Overturning 'Obamacare' Could Lead To Single-Payer

Sahil Kapur | April 2, 2012, 6:06AM

If the Supreme Court strikes down "Obamacare," Republicans claim a huge short-term victory, but they may end up big losers in the long run. The future of the nation's health care system would be thrown into disarray, and conservatives may be forced to swallow a more bitter pill.

The prospect of moving toward a more liberal, government-controlled health care system is fraught with political peril, and therefore far from inevitable, but may wind up being the only way to prevent the demise of the unsustainable, existing system from leaving many more millions without access to health care. Without a mechanism like an individual mandate to cover the uninsured and tackle the free-rider problem, health care costs are set to rise at an unsustainable rate and compel potentially drastic action from Congress.

"Conservatives may find that they weren't careful about what they wished for in opposing 'Obamacare,'" Adam Winkler, a constitutional law professor at UCLA School of Law, told TPM. "The economic, social and political pressure for health care reform aren't going to just disappear. There's a reason every major industrialized country has national health care. If the Supreme Court invalidates the Affordable Care Act, we are likely to see a government takeover of health care in the next decade."

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Single Payer

Michael Moore: Dems 'Were Handed The Ball And Couldn't Take It 10 Yards Down The Field'

Rachel Slajda | March 16, 2010, 3:08PM

Filmmaker Michael Moore

The only way Democrats may be able to salvage November, according to Michael Moore, is to "find their courage" this week, add a public option back to the health care bill and start passing as much liberal legislation as possible.

"Maybe they won't win. But their boat is sinking. And when your boat is sinking, I think you have to take radical measures to stop it," Moore said in an interview with TPMDC. "Don't just sit there and watch it sink."

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Health Care

Sanders: Single Payer Never Had A Chance

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 10, 2010, 3:26PM

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) reminded the progressive media gathered on Capitol Hill today that single-payer health care reform was dead before it started in the Senate.

"It would have had 8 or 10 votes and that's it," he said, addressing a topic central in the minds of many who the bloggers and left wing talk show hosts gathered for the 4th annual Senate Democratic Progressive Media Summit in Washington reach everyday.

Sanders is among the few in the Senate not afraid to say he supports government-run, universal health care. But his calls for such a program have gone unanswered, much to the chagrin of progressives who still feel it is the best way to solve the nation's health care crisis.

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2010 elections

In Delaying Health Care GOP Wants To Force August Repeat Over Holiday Break

Christina Bellantoni | December 16, 2009, 2:46PM

A town hall participant gets in the face of Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA).

It's not just stalling for fun and games - Republicans blocking health care from moving forward using Senate procedure think if they can force Democrats to go home for the holidays without a vote, they might just kill the bill.

The reasoning is that August was bad for Democrats when they went back to their districts and faced angry voters. Now, as polls tip against them and there's party infighting, it might be even worse.

TPMDC checked in with Republican sources and some Democrats who say lawmakers could face the cold shoulder at best or angry constituents reminiscent of the summer town halls at worst if they leave town without voting on the bill.

And the clock is ticking. Thanks to Senate rules, if they want to vote on the final bill by Christmas eve, leadership has just a few days to wrap it up.

Republican aides were reluctant to reveal their plans, but today was a bit of a preview as they slowed down the chamber's actions by more than three hours.

Using parliamentary procedure to slow things down is exactly what the GOP is aiming for - a dual win of headline-grabbing theater and delay that throws a wrench into leadership's timeline.

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Health Care

Weiner On Medicare Buy-In: 'This Is One Idea I Like A Lot'

Rachel Slajda | December 9, 2009, 11:33AM

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), one of Congress' fiercest supporters of the public option, has come out to support the Medicare buy-in proposal in the Senate Democrats' deal.

"This is one idea I like a lot," Weiner said in an email to the Daily News, calling the idea "remarkable."

Winning the support of Weiner, who has championed not only a public option but a universal single-payer system, could be a sign that the Dems' proposal may yet win over progressives, even without a public option.

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Barack Obama

New Poll Shows Strong Support For Obama, Congress Among Latinos

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 30, 2009, 6:45PM

President Barack Obama

Support for President Obama and the Democratic Congress has dipped a bit this year, according to a new poll commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation out this week. But it's unlikely the declining support will cause Obama or the Democrats to lose any sleep -- 74% of respondents said they approve of the job Obama is doing (down from 81% in April) and just 23% said they disapprove of the way Obama is doing his job.

For Congress, the drop was more worrisome. In April, 67% of respondents to the poll approved of the job Congress was doing. Now that number has dropped to 52%.

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Health Care

Single Payer Advocates Say Bernie Sanders 'Not A Fighter'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 25, 2009, 12:20PM

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Universal health care advocates called on President Obama and progressives in Congress the scrap both reform bills on Capitol Hill and "start from scratch" on a bill that creates single payer coverage for all Americans at at press conference today. They specifically aimed fire at Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who they called too weak to vote no on the Senate health care reform package they say doesn't go far enough.

Russell Mokhiber, the president of Single Payer Action, said he had "low expectations" that Sanders would vote to stop the bill his group says is nothing more than a "bailout for health insurance companies."

"We have had a history of fighters in the Senate," Mokhiber said today. "Bernie Sanders is apparently not that."

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Anthony Weiner

Weiner Withdraws Single-Payer Amendment

Brian Beutler | November 6, 2009, 12:44PM

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)

Early in the health care debate, Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised single-payer advocate Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) that the House would hold a mostly-ceremonial vote on a Medicare-for-all amendment. It was a move intended to appease the sizable faction of House liberals who felt they'd had to swallow too many compromises during the committee process.

But if you allow a vote on one amendment you might get drowned in them, so Pelosi and Weiner have come to an understanding and are walking away from the agreement.

"I have decided not to offer a single payer alternative to the health reform bill at this time," says Weiner in a statement. "Given how fluid the negotiations are on the final push to get comprehensive health care reform that covers millions of Americans and contains costs through a public option, I became concerned that my amendment might undermine that important goal."

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