5 ms·

It seems like we need a state or two to become an experiment (in the same nature as pot). However I fear that any attempt to will result in companies suing the

by cordite 10y ago

It seems like we need a state or two to become an experiment (in the same nature as pot). However I fear that any attempt to will result in companies suing the state for unfair competition or the like.

maxerickson 10y ago
It's likely that providers would flee any smaller state that attempted to do single payer. Not universally of course, but enough to have a big impact on availability of services. California might be able to try it.
- kurttheviking 10y ago
  > California might be able to try it. This. California democrats recently achieved a supermajority[1] making such an experiment possible. If California cannot push state legislators hard enough to give it a shot, the idea that a fractured national Congress will is fatally flawed. Voters rejected the idea in Vermont[2] (Bernie country[3]) -- so, can California be different? Granted, a California experiment must balance the fact the CMS money originates from federal sources, but that should not completely inhibit an experiment. [1] http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-democrats-nab-a-supermajority-after-1480383488-htmlstory.html http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essentia... [2] http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/single-payer-vermont-113711 http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/single-payer-vermont-1... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Democratic_primary,_2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Democratic_primary,_20...
ryansloan 10y ago
I learned recently that this is similar to what happened in Canada - it started with one province (I can't remember which) and spread from there.
- zzalpha 10y ago
  Saskatchewan. Good ol' Tommy Douglas. For those curious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Canada#The_beginning_of_coverage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Canada#The_begin...
RestlessMind 10y ago
How about an inter-state compact where states can willingly join a group and adopt common set of laws/regulations. If California, New York, Illinois and Massachusetts join this group, you already have 75-80M population with more liberal states to follow. This group can also be used to advance other liberal agenda on issues pertaining to energy, climate or agriculture. Of course, conservative states can do the same to advance conservative agenda to bypass gridlock in DC. But nothing wrong with that either. We will have some sort of real world A/B testing between the two groups and see which policies work better for a given problem. The advantage of a compact of states is that it enables significant weight behind a proposal, which would be hard to ignore for the companies (eg. fuel efficiency standards might be ignored for MA alone, but will be hard to ignore for market controlling 30-40% of the population).

by cordite 10y ago

maxerickson 10y ago

It's likely that providers would flee any smaller state that attempted to do single payer. Not universally of course, but enough to have a big impact on availability of services. California might be able to try it.

kurttheviking 10y ago
> California might be able to try it. This. California democrats recently achieved a supermajority[1] making such an experiment possible. If California cannot push state legislators hard enough to give it a shot, the idea that a fractured national Congress will is fatally flawed. Voters rejected the idea in Vermont[2] (Bernie country[3]) -- so, can California be different? Granted, a California experiment must balance the fact the CMS money originates from federal sources, but that should not completely inhibit an experiment. [1] http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-democrats-nab-a-supermajority-after-1480383488-htmlstory.html http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essentia... [2] http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/single-payer-vermont-113711 http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/single-payer-vermont-1... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Democratic_primary,_2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Democratic_primary,_20...

ryansloan 10y ago

I learned recently that this is similar to what happened in Canada - it started with one province (I can't remember which) and spread from there.

zzalpha 10y ago
Saskatchewan. Good ol' Tommy Douglas. For those curious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Canada#The_beginning_of_coverage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Canada#The_begin...

RestlessMind 10y ago

How about an inter-state compact where states can willingly join a group and adopt common set of laws/regulations. If California, New York, Illinois and Massachusetts join this group, you already have 75-80M population with more liberal states to follow. This group can also be used to advance other liberal agenda on issues pertaining to energy, climate or agriculture. Of course, conservative states can do the same to advance conservative agenda to bypass gridlock in DC. But nothing wrong with that either. We will have some sort of real world A/B testing between the two groups and see which policies work better for a given problem. The advantage of a compact of states is that it enables significant weight behind a proposal, which would be hard to ignore for the companies (eg. fuel efficiency standards might be ignored for MA alone, but will be hard to ignore for market controlling 30-40% of the population).