Chicago Tribune reported today: Ahead of Tuesday’s electoral earthquake, voters repeatedly ranked rising healthcare costs among their top economic concerns. Unfortunately, the dramatic shift in the congressional landscape will not deliver relief anytime soon.

Yes, come January, Democrats will control the U.S. House and Senate. But the party’s gains in the upper chamber were insufficient to overcome a Republican filibuster or, as President Donald Trump told Fox News in the wake of his electoral wipeout, his “impervious” veto.

Individuals and employers burdened by high premiums and out-of-pocket costs need help now. State governments can lead the way, especially states such as Illinois where Democrats control the legislature and governor’s mansion.

States have always been our laboratories of democracy, to use Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis’ famous aphorism. Before passage of the Affordable Care Act, Massachusetts created the model, which Republican Gov. Mitt Romney signed into law.

Over the next two years, Illinois should pursue an agenda that lays the groundwork for the next major national reform. That agenda must accomplish three things:

• It must offer immediate relief to patients facing unaffordable medical bills.

More>

###