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On any sunny day, the Rochester Public Market draws crowds looking for fresh fruits and vegetables or just an excuse to enjoy some outdoor fun.
As visitors strolled into the market on Saturday, they were greeted with a different sight: about 20 members of Rochester for HR 676, a group that supports Medicare health coverage for everyone, along with members of the Progressive Democrats of America’s Genesee Valley chapter, collecting signatures and informing the public about HR 676, a bill introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich.
The bill — the United States National Health Insurance Act, or the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act — calls for a system of single-payer health care in which Congress would determine the yearly budget. Visits to doctors and the hospital and other services would be paid for out of a single government-run fund.
About a week ago, Congress began work on separate health care reform legislation, hoping to limit costs while expanding coverage. Robin Wilt of the Progressive Democrats group said President Barack Obama once backed the single-payer system but is now supporting a public option that would compete with private insurers.
“There’s no perfect system out there, but I think we can do a better job at reducing costs than we are doing currently,” said Wilt, of Rochester, who estimates there are more than 1,300 privately funded health care plans in the country.
The groups, which spent more than four hours collecting signatures in support of the system, plan to present their petitions to U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, during a march Wednesday to the federal building in downtown Rochester.
A 2007 national survey revealed that nearly 45 million Americans, about 15 percent of the population, lacked health insurance.
That would change under the single-payer system, which closely resembles Medicare, a government-backed health insurance system for people age 65 and older or those younger than 65 with certain disabilities.
While some people might be wary of giving the government control over their health care, Dave Marcus of Brighton likens the single-payer system to Medicare, only with an expansion of recipients to include all Americans, regardless of race, income or age.
“Government services are for everyone, and if the government is in control of health care, it has an obligation to serve everyone, like the police and fire departments” do, said Marcus, who collected signatures.
“Medicare doesn’t discriminate, so why would it be bad to extend health care to a similar system?”
Currently on disability and frustrated with the private health care companies, Bonnie Mason of Rochester was glad to sign a petition. She said she’s hopeful that a single-payer system would reduce her health care-related stresses.
“I trust the government more than I do private companies when it comes to health care,” said Mason. “The government will look out for me faster than these private companies, and the government will protect me and my health care needs more than private companies looking to line their own pockets.”
Under HR 676, there would be no more co-pays or deductibles.
Benefits would be available through any licensed health care clinician anywhere in the country, and patients could select their own physicians, clinicians, hospitals and inpatient care facilities.
Rochester group petitions for single-payer health care system
by John Boccacino
Staff writer – Democrat and Chronicle
JUNE 28, 2009
JBOCCACI@DemocratandChronicle.com
