Voters back referendum on single-payer health care

Early results showed Cape Codders supported a nonbinding referendum stating that health care should be a universal human right and should be administered under a single-payer health insurance system available to all citizens of the state.

As of 1 a.m, 62 percent of voters in 18 Cape and Islands towns and Gosnold had voted in favor of the ballot initiative. Early results showed Cape Codders supported a nonbinding referendum stating that health care should be a universal human right and should be administered under a single-payer health insurance system available to all citizens of the state.

The question also appeared on ballots in other Massachusetts communities. Supporters said the current health-care system is too fragmented and expensive to work effectively. Detractors were concerned about government taking over health care.

The towns of Brewster, Chatham, Dennis, Eastham, Harwich, Orleans, Gosnold, Oak Bluffs and Nantucket all passed the no-binding referendum, as did the four precincts in Falmouth where it was on the ballot. Results were not in for Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Yarmouth, Aquinnah, Chilmark, Edgartown, Tisbury and West Tisbury.

Under a single-payer system, a Medicare-type program or a nonprofit trust fund would provide insurance.