Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in The Other Hudson Valley that Rep. Antonio Delgado, a Democrat from Rhinebeck, introduced a bill April 1 to make a form of Medicare available to all Americans. The bill could pass the House of Representatives, but has no chance in the Senate or with the President. Delgado says the bill, if passed, would introduce “more choice and more competition to the marketplace” and will “drive down costs for everyone.” The measure is for a “public option” of Medicare X, which would keep Medicare physician network funding separate from the Medicare trust fund, with private insurance also allowed. The House of Representatives passed a similar proposal when the Affordable Health Care Act was approved, but the then Democrat-controlled Senate did away with the public option. Republicans currently control the Senate, and the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said this week that the Senate will not take up healthcare until after the next presidential election. Read the full story in The Other Hudson Valley.