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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - Read Before Packet - 3/1/2022 - Memorandum From Teresa Roche Re: Agenda And Materials For March 3 Council Ad Hoc City Manager Recruitment CommitteeCity Clerk 300 LaPorte Avenue PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6515 970.221-6295 - fax fcgov.com/cityclerk MEMORANDUM DATE: March 1, 2022 TO:Mayor and Councilmembers THROUGH:Kelly DiMartino, Interim City Manager Kyle Stannert, Deputy City Manager FROM: Anissa Hollingshead, City Clerk RE: Resolution 2022-036 Expressing Support for Improved Medicare for All as a National Health Care System Attached please find an updated AIS and resolution for item no. 11 on tonight’s agenda. This item has been changed to clarify the intent to support federal legislation and implementation of comprehensive and affordable healthcare for all. Agenda Item 12 Item # 12 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY March 1, 2022 City Manager STAFF Ginny Sawyer, Policy and Project Manager Carrie M. Daggett, Legal SUBJECT Resolution 2022-036 Expressing Support for Improved Medicare For All as a National Health Care System. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is to express support for both state and national legislators to actively support federal legislation such as HR 1976, The Medicare for All Act 2021 or other similar legislation that provides comprehensive and affordable health care for all. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Resolution. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION Prior to the pandemic, and even more so since, Council has supported efforts at the national level that address more equitable and affordable health care. The Council-adopted Legislative Policy Agenda includes the following: HEALTH CARE: The City recognizes that the rapidly increasing cost of health care and health insurance is a barrier to real wage growth, equitable health outcomes, and economic gains among many Fort Collins residents. The City further recognizes that employer-sponsored health care and varying state regulations that are not consistent across the United States have resulted in the system we have today. Therefore, the City: Supports health care policy that provides single-payer, not-for-profit health care to all residents. Supports the portability of health care plans across employers and state-lines. Supports health care policies that end the practice in the United States of employers being the primary source of health insurance for citizens. Supports policies that allocate costs to individuals and their families proportional to their ability to pay. Based on the Legislative Policy Agenda and community support, this Resolution has been brought forward and will be shared with the Governor of Colorado and our state and federal elected representatives. -1- RESOLUTION 2022-036 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR IMPROVED MEDICARE FOR ALL ASA NATIONAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM WHEREAS, by its adoption of Resolution 2020-112, and Resolution 2021-110, approving the City’s Legislative Policy Agenda for the 2021 and 2022 legislative sessions, the City Council has established that it is City’s legislative policy related to health care that the City: 1. Supports health care policy that provides single-payer, not-for-profit health care to all residents. 2. Supports the portability of health care plans across employers and state-lines. 3. Supports health care policies that end the practice in the United States of employers being the primary source of health insurance for residents. 4. Supports policies that allocate costs to individuals and their families proportional to their ability to pay; and WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically demonstrated the failings of the patchwork of health care financing programs serving Fort Collins, Colorado and the nation; and WHEREAS, the pandemic has demonstrated the critical roles people of all income levels provide to keep our economy functioning properly and that everyone in our society must have access to high quality, affordable health care in order to continue providing these services; and WHEREAS, the pandemic has also highlighted the systemic racial bias present in our health care system: and WHEREAS, the City’s goals for diversity, equity and inclusion cannot be fully realized under the current patchwork of health care financing programs: and WHEREAS, the increasing demand for affordable mental health services cannot be met with our current health care financing system: and WHEREAS, the current health care system is viewed as a root cause of intergenerational poverty making it increasingly more difficult for Fort Collins residents to afford housing,child care and elder care: and WHEREAS, a comprehensive national health care system should negotiate the prices for prescription drugs as is done in most other developed countries; and WHEREAS, many small businesses in Fort Collins struggle to attract and retain employees because employees are often looking for jobs with health care benefits; and -2- WHEREAS, the Fort Collins economy would benefit when entrepreneurs have the freedom to pursue their vision without being constrained by the potential loss of health care for themselves and their family members if they leave existing employment; and WHEREAS, while an ultimate solution to the problem will be at the national level, the current pain inflicted by our dysfunctional health care system is very local and directly impacting Fort Collins residents. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the City Council hereby adopts the determinations and findings contained in the recitals set forth above. Section 2. That the Fort Collins City Council hereby urges the Governor of Colorado, members of the Colorado General Assembly, and Colorado’s congressional delegation to actively support legislation such as HR 1976, the Medicare for All Act of 2021 or subsequent or similar legislation that results in comprehensive, affordable health care for all residents of the United States and is funded by a not-for-profit, single payer system. Section 3. That a copy of this Resolution should be sent by the Mayor on behalf of the City Council to the Governor of Colorado, to members of the Colorado General Assembly representing Fort Collins and to the members of Congress representing the Fort Collins area. Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins this 1st day of March, A.D. 2022. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _____________________________ City Clerk