Advocates of state or federal sponsored universal health care, including two Pennsylvania state legislators, gathered at the State Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., to promote their solution to the nation’s coverage crisis.

Jim Ferlo

State Sen. Jim Ferlo (D-Pittsburgh) and State Rep. Kathy Manderino (D- Philadelphia/Montgomery) were among the speakers at a rally Oct. 20 to call for action, including increasing attention paid to two bills they have sponsored to bring a single-payer system to Pennsylvania.

“We need real solutions to solve our current healthcare crisis,” Ferlo said. “The single- payer strategy is the only way to remove the waste in the system and provide universal coverage.”

Ferlo has introduced the Family and Business Healthcare Security Act (SB 400), which would employ a pair of new taxes to pay for universal coverage. A 3% personal income tax for individuals and a 10% payroll tax on businesses would be levied. The new taxes, along with existing Medicaid/Medicare, tobacco settlement funds and other existing health care dollars would pay for the single-payer approach under his proposed legislation.

Ferlo said among the goals in his bill are quality medical, dental and mental health care for every Pennsylvania resident, the establishment of a Health Care Trust owned and controlled by residents as the single payer for health care, eliminating “the existing wasteful and inefficient system of multiple third party payers” and relieving employers from the responsibility of selecting, pricing and administering health insurance.

“We have organized a very diverse group that allows us to demonstrate wide-spread support for the single payer concept,” Ferlo said in a statement.  “The last step is to bring our story and solutions to other elected officials so that they can understand and appreciate that a single payer system is the best path to take.”

Manderino’s proposed legislation (HB 1600) would create the Pennsylvania Health Care Plan, a statewide, comprehensive health care system providing comprehensive coverage to all state residents. Like Ferlo’s plan, Manderino’s bill also would create a state health care trust fund, within the state treasury office, and the same individual and business taxes to help fund the new program.