House Single Payer Bill Up 13 to 90 Co-Sponsors

April 6, 2017

Single payer is booming in the House.

Just this week, HR 676, the single payer bill in the House, has added thirteen new co-sponsors, hitting 90 total co-sponsors.

The 13 new co-sponsors are: Kathy Castor (D-Florida), Gene Green (D-Texas), David Price (D-North Carolina), David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island), Jimmy Panetta (D-California), Anthony Brown (D-Maryland), Andre Carson (D-Indiana), Paul Sarbanes (D-Maryland), Dina Titus (D-Nevada), Grace Meng (D-New York), Luis Correa (D-California), Diana DeGette (D-Colorado), Jerry McNerney (D-California).

And that leaves 16 members of the House Progressive Caucus, which has as a group endorsed HR 676, who have yet to sign on as co-sponsors. They are: Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona), Maxine Waters (D-California), Jared Polis (D-Colorado), Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Delaware), Val Demings (D-Florida), Lois Frankel (D-Florida), Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa), Joseph Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan), Ruben Kihuen (D-Nevada), Carol Shea Porter (D-New Hampshire), Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) and Don Beyer (D-Virginia).

Then there are eleven members who have signed onto HR 676 in a previous Congress, but have yet to sign on in this Congress. They are Sanford Bishop (D-Georgia), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), David Loebsack (D-Iowa), Nita Lowey (D-New York), Ben Ray Lujan (D-New Mexico), Stephen Lynch (D-Massachusetts), Jared Polis (D-Colorado), Linda Sanchez (D-California), Terri Sewell (D-Alabama), Peter Visclosky (D-Indiana) and Maxine Waters (D-California).

All 90 of the co-sponsors of HR 676 are Democrats, but the conservative case for single payer is gaining steam.

Conservative law professor F.H. Buckley penned a piece last week in the New York Post titled Why Trump Should Embrace Single Payer Health Care.

And Vox ran two pieces in the past week — one titled Why The Alt-Right Loves Single Payer Health Care and the other titled — I Ran A Focus Group With Trump Voters. Half Said They Support Single Payer.

There is no single payer bill in the Senate, but Senator Bernie Sanders is now saying he will introduce a single payer bill within the month.

And in case you had any doubts, Paste weighs in with An Actual Doctor Debunks 7 Myths About Single Payer Healthcare.