The Alaska House of Representatives rejected it on Friday. suggestion Created by Rep. Andrew Gray (D-Anchorage), it aims to create a universal health care system open to all residents, regardless of cost.
Mr Gray said on the House floor: “It's time to take drastic action. We need to destroy Alaska's health care system.”
Gray's suggestion introduced as a modification of Unrelated medical bills and Billed as a single payer systeman out-of-order ruling was issued by House Speaker Kathy Tilton (R-Wasilla), and Tilton's sentence was upheld. 23-14 vote.
As a result of this decision, MPs were not given the opportunity to comment on the pros and cons of the proposal.
It is highly unusual for the House to make major policy changes through floor amendments, but it has done so before.Earlier this year, the House of Representatives Voted to raise the state's age of sexual consent through a handwritten floor amendment.. That decision has not yet been finalized.
Speaking after Friday's vote, Gray said he views the health insurance law reform bill as a first step toward legislation in 2025 and proposed it with an eye toward this fall's parliamentary elections.
“I'm a new member of Congress. There are a lot of things I want to do, but I can't find the right approach. I've told a lot of people that if I'm re-elected, I want to work on health care,” he said after the vote. Told.
Mr. Gray's amendment would require the Alaska Department of Health to create a “single-payer health care program” that would provide complete medical care, including but not limited to vision, dental, mental health treatment, prescription drugs, and hospice care. should have been required to “design and implement”. .
Sen. David Wilson (R-Wasilla) is the chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and the sponsor of the bill that is the subject of the Gray amendment.
Wilson pointed to several technical flaws in the language of Gray's amendment, including what he called a fundamental misunderstanding of how states currently provide Medicaid.
Before implementing universal care, Alaska must first transition away from universal health care. From a fee-for-service model to a managed care modelsaid Wilson.
The United States is the only developed country in the world without universal health care, and yet no U.S. state has universal health care. dozens of suggestions.
Vermont passed a single-payer law in 2011, but the governor canceled the proposal In 2014, there were cost concerns.
California lawmakers have repeatedly considered the concept, but the latest ideas have also fallen out of favor. national budget deficit.
According to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Published by Kaiser Family FoundationAlaskans spent an average of $13,462 per person on health care in 2020.
Gray said Based on 2022 estimates of single-payer health care costs in California, a single-payer system in Alaska would cost approximately $10,000 per person.
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