Congressman John D. Dingell of Michigan's 15th District proposed a bill for National Healthcare in January. No sponsors as far as I can find so far.
Most Congressman most likely think that it is a waste of effort because of the Republican controlled House and Senate. They may very well be right.
However, I am so glad that Congressman Dingell has proposed this bill. A national healthcare bill needs to get proposed every year until it is passed.
He outline the reasons for the need for National Healthcare in his bill.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PURPOSE.
(a) Findings- The Congress finds that--
(1) the health of the Nation's people is the foundation of our Nation's strength, productivity, and wealth;
(2) the assurance of adequate medical care to all of our people is essential to the general welfare and to the Nation's security;
(3) since the tremendous advances in medical science in recent years have necessarily meant great advances in the cost of health services, our archaic system of paying for medical care--based on public and private charity for the poor, on unpredictable and often unbearable costs to the otherwise self-supporting, and on disproportionate charges for the well-to-do--has resulted in the following conditions:
(A) the inability of the vast majority of our people to meet the shattering cost of serious or chronic illness;
(B) the inability of most of our people to benefit from modern preventive medicine; and
(C) wholly inadequate provision for the health needs of our farm families and agricultural workers;
(4) the conditions described in the preceding paragraph cannot effectively be remedied under the present system of payment for medical care, or under any voluntary insurance system; and
(5) a medical dole as an answer to this problem is repugnant to the American people and would certainly result in a system of state medicine, paid for from tax funds and rendered by regimented doctors.
(b) Purposes- The Congress declares the purposes of this Act to be to provide a sound economic foundation for our free system of medicine and to correct the maldistribution of health personnel and facilities by establishing a system of prepaid personal health insurance on the principle of social insurance.
We may not be able to help in getting the bill passed. But I definitely like to highlight the reasons for National Healthcare so people continue to discuss it as a viable option to our current health care crisis.