General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: HR 676 !!! - Let's put Single Payer into the conversation: [View all]lapucelle
(18,187 posts)so he is not new to this fight.
Conyers initially had robust co-sponsorship for the bill; This year's number of 115 co-sponsors represents a majority of the Democratic house caucus. You can follow the ebb and flow of co-sponsorship by looking up HR 376 in the 108th through the 115th Congresses.
Both McDermott and Sanders were co-sponsors of the original bill. (McDermott was an original co-sponsor; Sanders signed on about a year later.) Whether or not either man would be will to get behind the Conyers bill remains to be seen.
McDermott introduced the American Health Security Act (HR 1200) for the first time in 1993; Conyers was a co-sponsor, as was Sanders, and it had a total of 90 co-sponsors. McDermott has introduced that same bill in every Congress since, except for this year.
Sanders introduced a companion bill (S 915) to McDemott's HR 1200 for the first and only time in 112th Congress (2011-2012). There is talk that they will re-introduce the measures after the recess. I think it's a mistake to think that wide-spread Democratic support for medicare for all is something new. I took Schumer's recent remarks as a signal that he looking towards a Senate version of Conyers bill.
Whether or not single payer/medicare for all is the best vehicle for delivering universal health care/health insurance is a valid point for discussion. I don't see any reason why a debate on this should be unwelcome.
I removed the link because it redirects to a different page. To search the legislative history of either HR 376 or HR 1200, go to congress.gov, select "all legislation" and type the bill number into the search box.