Title
To support the Health Care for All Ohioans Act.
Body
WHEREAS, all residents of the State of Ohio should have access to affordable, quality health care; and
WHEREAS, more than 1.3 million (1 of every 9) Ohioans are currently without health insurance, and many others have coverage so inadequate that a major illness would lead to financial ruin; and
WHEREAS, medical illnesses in Ohio and the accompanying bills contribute to one-half of all bankruptcies; and
WHEREAS, managed care and other market based reforms have failed to contain healthcare costs; and
WHEREAS, entrusting the health care of our citizens to competition among profit-oriented firms diverts billions of dollars from healthcare to wasteful administrative costs and excessive compensation for CEO's; and
WHEREAS, the Health Care for All Ohioans Act would establish a non-profit health care system in our state which would provide comprehensive medical coverage for all of the state's residents, including the full range of inpatient and outpatient hospital care, preventive care, mental health, vision, hearing, prescription drugs, dental, emergency services, rehabilitation services, hospice care, home care, and all other necessary medical services as determined by any state licensed, certified, or registered health care practitioner; and
WHEREAS, the Health Care for All Ohioans Act would protect the doctor patient relationship, assure patients a free choice of doctors and allow physicians a free choice of practice settings; and
WHEREAS, the maximum cost allotted for the administration of the Health Care for All Ohioans Act is 5%; and
WHEREAS, the cost of providing health care coverage for employees of the City of Columbus would be substantially reduced if the Health Care for All Ohioans Act becomes law because the funding formula of the Act provides for a payroll tax not to exceed 3.85% for health care coverage, far less than the $80 million or 17.4% of payroll that the City of Columbus now spends; and
WHEREAS, the Health Care for All Ohioans Act will allow health care costs to be controlled and predictable, eliminating a major source of business uncertainty and a barrier to planning; and
WHEREAS, the Health Care for All Ohioans Act will eliminate complaints by employees over rising premiums, co-pays and conflicts with labor unions over benefit cuts as well as eliminate the need for annual negotiations with insurance companies; now, therefore;
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
That we do hereby express our support for the Health Care for All Ohioans Act.
Be it further resolved that we encourage all Ohio residents to contact Ohio House and Senate members to encourage their participation in the passage of the Health Care for All Ohioans Act.
Be it further resolved that we encourage all Ohio residents to sign petitions presented by SPAN Ohio, the Single-Payer Action Network Ohio, so that the Health Care for All Ohioans Act can be placed on an Ohio ballot for voters to act upon.