We call on Governors Jerry Brown of California, Andrew Cuomo of New York, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Dannel Malloy of Connecticut, and governors of other Democratic states to explore the possibility of forming an interstate, single-payer healthcare system for their residents.

Ideally, this system would provide ALL residents of these states equal, quality health coverage which would be accepted in any of these states. It would be funded by the collective healthcare budgets of these states, as well as reallocated federal funding for programs such as Medicaid.

According to a Gallup poll published on May 16, 2016, 58% of Americans say that they would prefer to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with a federally funded healthcare system that provides insurance for all Americans.

However, Congress has been in a deadlock on this issue for decades. Switching from the current system -- a hodgepodge of employer-based and subsidized care for the most needy -- to single-payer has for many seemed too drastic a change for Congress to successfully implement nationally.

A few states, including CA, MA, VT, and CO have discussed or tried to establish single-payer systems confined to their own states. But such systems have been bombarded with budget concerns and do not create a clear path to single-payer on the national level.

In light of this, we propose that by first forming an interstate single-payer system among a few powerful blue states, the country can gradually and steadily replace the current system with an efficient, potentially national, single-payer system as more and more states, including red states, will want to join in years to come if they see it is working well.

Call it AmeriCare?

Furthermore, we believe it would be in the interest of our states to be part of initiating this project. If acted upon, it would uniquely provide all the benefits of single-payer to residents and businesses, and show that our states are leading the way in reform on this important issue.

FAQ:

Why CA, NY, MA, and CT? I want my state in too.

The author of this petition has lived in the four states mentioned, hence why they were selected, but governors of other states are on this petition's list of recipients. And residents of all states are welcome to sign and encourage their states to join too!

Is this constitutional?

It appears so. This would likely be an interstate compact, which Congress has the power to allow. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_compact