In response to the seeming inability of Congress to fix what still ails our national approach to healthcare, two state legislatures are taking matters into their own hands in recent weeks.

In New York, April 19:

Senate bill S4840 has been introduced onto the floor and moved into committee. The bill would establish New York Health, a universal single payer healthcare network. A similar bill passed the assembly in 2016 but was not taken up by the Senate. A new Assembly version will be introduced this year and is expected to have a vote by summer.

In California, April 26:

A proposal to eliminate health insurance companies and guarantee government-funded health care for all California residents is moving forward.

The Senate Health Committee voted Wednesday to send the measure to the Appropriations Committee. The vote came after hundreds of nurses clad in red held a rally in Sacramento, marched to the state Capitol and packed into a committee room.

The proposal is promoted by the state's powerful nursing union and two Democratic senators who say California should create a national model for providing health care for everyone.

Interestingly, a similar single-payer proposal failed by two votes in the California Senate in January--when two Democrats voted against it and four Democrats failed to vote at all.

Angry activists pointed to the fact that five of the six errant Democrats had received money from the insurance industry and Big Pharma, ranging from $100,000 to over $250,000. Three of the six senators had been endorsed by the California Labor Federation which, along with unions such as the Service Employees and AFSCME, was on record supporting the single-payer bill. The California Democratic Party was also on record supporting it.

I suppose we'll find out soon enough the extent to which California's Democratic officeholders remain beholden to the insurance industry and Big Pharma. Tick, tock...