Lawmakers in Conn., Calif. ready public option, single-payer bills

Lawmakers in Connecticut are considering re-introducing a bill for a public option for health insurance that died last year in the legislature. Similarly in California, state lawmakers are pushing a single-payer bill that died in the legislature last year.

The CT Mirror: Public Option Proposal Coming Back For 2012
A proposed public health insurance option didn't get through the legislature last year, but some supporters are planning to try again this year. Creating a publicly administered health insurance plan is among the recommendations of a working group on small business health care, established by House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan and led by Rep. Robert Megna, D-New Haven, co-chairman of the legislature's Insurance and Real Estate Committee. … Donovan was a lead proponent last year of a controversial proposal, known as SustiNet, that would have created a state-run insurance plan that would be available to the public. The proposal drew opposition from insurers and business groups, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy raised concerns about its potential cost. A compromise that ultimately passed allowed municipalities and some nonprofits to buy coverage through the state, and created a cabinet to make health policy recommendations, including about the possibility of creating alternatives to private insurance (Levin Becker, 1/30).

HealthyCal: A Push For A Single-Payer System, Even As Reforms Take Effect
Sen. Mark Leno is trying to get 20 of his fellow California state senators to vote in favor of his single-payer health care legislation this week. The proposed law, dubbed the "Medicare for All" bill, doesn't look likely to pass. Yet the introduction of the bill raises an interesting question: why push for radical changes to insurance and health care so soon after President Obama signed historic reforms into law in March of 2010? The Affordable Care Act, the federal health care reform bill passed in 2010, falls short of the universal coverage advocated by Leno's proposed legislation (Shanafelt, 1/30).