In 2006 I worked countless hours as a volunteer for Baron Hill to win back his seat in Indiana's 9th Congressional District.
Baron is a "Blue Dog" Democrat, which often gets mischaracterized in the party. What I saw in Baron's campaign was a commitment to true progressive principles in a solid model of focusing on the populist issues that working American want to discuss. These include energy policy, environment, education; but most importantly Healthcare.
And a common part of Baron's stump speech was his plan for introducing a constitutional amendment calling for healthcare as a right for all Americans.
Because once we recognize healthcare as a right and not a privilege, the responsibility falls to the Congress to do something about it.
And this weekend we learn that Rep. Hill (IN-09) is set to propose his Right to Care Act to the 110th Congress. From The News and Tribune:
In an interview Friday, Hill said he’s only a few months away from proposing an amendment that would put health care among constitutional rights — right alongside free speech or freedom of religion.
Imagine the situation in Congress. This bill may not be our silver bullet, and a constitutional amendment on universal healthcare may not have enough support in the Congress. But this bill would put every Congressman on record as to where they stand on universal healthcare for our future before the 2008 election. Does the Republican party truely stand for Universal Healthcare? Prove it.
Hill’s legislation — for now known as the Right to Care Act — would establish health care as a right by amending the constitution, but it does not provide any kind of direction as to how people should be covered.
He plans to file companion legislation establishing a health care commission to decide that. The commission would investigate various means of providing universal health care — both through private business and public administration — and make a recommendation to Congress.
I think the commission is the right step because of the unfairness of our public debate, as nyceve has pointed out this morning. Hill elaborates on this:
The congressman said that a constitutional amendment is necessary in this case, because of the amount of special interest involvement. Any time health care is debated in this country, special interest groups get overly involved in the debate, he said.
He points to former First Lady Hillary Clinton’s 1993 health care proposal as an example of that. The pharmaceutical companies have too much of a vested interest in maintaining the status quo, he said. An amendment would force the country to act on the issue because it couldn’t just be ignored.
This would be an important step in changing the dynamic of discussions on Universal Healthcare in the country.
What can you do:
You can contact Baron Hill to lend your support so he can take the good word to House memebrs on the fence.
You can contact your Congressman and tell them to co-sponsor The Right to Care Act with Rep. Baron Hill (IN-09).