FULL TEXT OF PROPOSED AMENDMENT:   Article I of the Florida Constitution is hereby amended adding the following:

Section 28     Right to Health Care

(A)        Health care, including care to prevent and treat illness, is the right of all citizens of the State of Florida and necessary to ensure the strength of the State and Nation.    All citizens of the State of Florida shall enjoy the right to comprehensive health care services from a health care provider of each person’s choice.

(B)       The Legislature shall be required to implement this article by appropriate legislation creating a non-profit single payer health insurance program in which a single public or quasi-public agency organizes health financing, but delivery of care remains private, such a system being the simplest to administer, having the least amount of administrative overhead, reducing costs the most, offering coverage more comprehensive than that currently available on the market, controlling costs so that benefits are sustainable, and insuring that no person in the state goes without health care coverage, which coverage must include doctor, hospital, preventive, long-term care, mental health, reproductive health care, dental, vision, prescription drug and medical supply costs. 

(C)     Notwithstanding the provisions of Article VII, Section 5 of the Constitution, in addition to other sources of funding created for this program, the State may deduct premiums from the income of all citizens employed in the state in an amount not to exceed 3% of each person’s gross salary or wages, to be matched by a like amount to be paid by the person’s employer.

(D)    This Section shall take effect on the first day of the first year that begins more than one year after the date of approval by vote of the electors, and shall apply to items and services furnished on or after such date.  Upon implementation, it shall be unlawful for a private health insurer to sell health insurance coverage that duplicates the benefits provided under this program.   Nothing in this Section shall be construed as prohibiting the sale of health insurance coverage for any additional benefits not covered by this program, such as for cosmetic surgery or other services and items that are not medically necessary.