Sanders to introduce single-payer bill

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) will introduce a bill Tuesday to establish a single-payer healthcare system.

The bill would establish state-based programs to administer coverage and set payment rates for providers. A federal board would set criteria for those offices. The new system would replace Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and insurance exchanges established under the Obama administration's healthcare reform law.

It would be funded through a series of tax increases on businesses and individuals, as well as money that otherwise would have been set aside for subsidies and tax credits under healthcare reform.

Sanders and McDermott are scheduled to discuss the bill at a press conference Tuesday morning.

Sanders is a longtime advocate for single-payer health coverage. Both chambers of the state legislature in Vermont have passed a bill moving the state toward a single-payer system. Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) is expected to sign the bill.

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