State-Based Health Care Reform Act

Talk about a buried lede. Or the mainstream media not paying attention to an important story. The Milwaukee Small Business Times reports that a bipartisan proposal would let states reform health care - "States could use single-payer systems, expansion of current programs, market-based reforms or adopt completely new ideas in their efforts to cover the uninsured."

U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are authors of the State-Based Health Care Reform Act. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) signed on today.

You can read the bill at the Library of Congress's Thomas.

There's a longer article on the bill at Psychiatry Online from October 2007.

S 1169... would establish the Health Care Coverage Task Force to approve grants to states whose proposals mandate minimum requirements in coverage and quality measures and meet cost guidelines. The bill would provide about $40 billion for state matching grants to expand health care coverage, while mandating certain "cost-sharing" limits to keep the coverage affordable for beneficiaries...

Another state-based approach would authorize grants for states to create universal health care pilot programs that could become models for other states and the country. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and known as the States' Right to Innovate in Health Care Act of 2007 (S 2031), would authorize five, five-year grants to states committed to developing plans for universal, comprehensive, cost-effective health care. The states would have to provide comprehensive benefits, including coverage for long-term care, diagnostic services, preventive care, prescription drugs, dental and vision services, and mental health treatment including that for substance abuse.

What's PNHP's position on these bills?