Universal health Care for Cali folks

[nadinbrzezinski]

SB 840, THE CALIFORNIA HEALTH INSURANCE RELIABILITY ACT (CHIRA) PASSED BY THE STATE SENATE

CHIRA Supported By State Senate President Pro Tem Perata And Health Committee Chair Deborah Ortiz



Quote:

On May 31, 2005, State Senate Bill 840, the California Health Insurance Reliability Act (CHIRA), authored by State Senator Sheila Kuehl, passed in the State Senate by a vote of 24 to 14 and has been sent to the State Assembly for consideration. SB 840 would insure every Californian with comprehensive health benefits while preserving each consumer's right to choose his or her own doctor. SB 840 would create a streamlined reimbursement process that would take the place of current public and private insurance plans, thus saving billions in administrative costs.

Consumers would pay a yearly means-based premium for all coverage, which would include medical, dental, vision, prescription drug, hospitalization and emergency coverage, along with other services.

The plan is expected to put no new burden on California's general fund.

According to the projections of the Lewin Group, an independent healthcare cost/benefit analysis firm, a model on which SB 840 is based could wind up reducing overall healthcare costs in California while insuring every resident at a high level of coverage.

"It's often the case that the most efficient solution to a problem is also the most compassionate solution," says Senator Kuehl. "And we must find a solution to our ballooning healthcare crisis. One in 5 Californians is uninsured. Those of us who have coverage are seeing everything rise: premiums, deductibles, co-pays and out of pocket expenses, while our coverage continues to decline. Half of the personal bankruptcies in this country are the result of medical expenses, and the majority of the people bankrupted for that reason had insurance at the time they became sick or injured.

"This issue affects all of us," Kuehl continued. "One bad traffic accident can wipe out a lifetime of careful financial decisions. Even the minority of people with good coverage can find themselves suffering in an emergency, because emergency rooms are choked with people who aren't actually in emergencies, but have nowhere else to go-or who wouldn't have needed emergency care if they'd only had the preventive care they needed.

“I am very grateful that so many of my colleagues in the State Senate saw the pressing need for this bill. This is what we should be doing-trying to solve the real problems of real people."





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[Maat]

1. Thanks for the post.

I'm going to support this wholeheartedly.

[Technowitch]

2. Oh please-please-please, I hope this happens

My self-paid insurance is amazingly crappy -- and it's still way better than all those folks out there who have nothing.

[eridani]

3. Supporters vs opponents

Supporters:
Alameda County Medical Center
Alliance for Democracy, Ukiah Valley
Alpha Omega Alpha, Honor Medical Society
American Civil Liberties Union, San Luis Obispo County
American Civil Liberties Union, Southern California
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists,
AFL-CIO
American Medical Student Association
American Nurses Association, California
Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council, Santa Cruz and San
Benito Counties
Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council, Contra Costa County
Arthritis Care Center, Inc.
Asian Americans for Community Involvement, Inc.
Asian Law Alliance
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now,
California
Atascadero Democratic Club
Board of Supervisors, Alameda County
Board of Supervisors, Marin County
Breast Cancer Fund
Brookside Dental Care, Stockton
Butte County Health Care Coalition
California Alliance Against Domestic Violence
California Alliance for Retired Americans California
Association of Public Authorities for In-Home Supportive
Services
California Black Women's Health Project
California Commission on Aging
California Commission on the Status of Women
California Consumer Health Care Council
California Consumers United
California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
California Democratic Party Women's Caucus
California Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
California Foundation for Independent Living Centers
California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
California Physicians Alliance
California Public Health Association - North
California Public Interest Research Group
California School Employees Association)
California Teachers Association
California Women Lawyers
Castro Valley Democratic Club
Central American Resource Center
Child Care Law Center
City of Capitola
City of El Cerrito
City of Santa Monica
City of West Hollywood
Coalition for Community Health
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Los Angeles
Coalition LA
Communications Workers of America , Local 9423 AFL-CIO
Community Access Center, ACCESS
Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County, Inc.
Community Homeless Alliance Ministry
Consumers Union
Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante
Davis Friends Meeting (Quakers)
Death Penalty Focus, Santa Cruz Chapter
Del Norte Teachers Association
Democratic Women of the San Fernando Valley
Dominican Sisters, San Rafael
Dunham & Associates, Geotechnical Engineers
El Cerrito Democratic Club
Equality California
Evergreen Democratic Club
Federation of Retired Union Members
First 5 Marin Children and Families Commission
First Congregational Church, Long Beach
Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights
Four Winds, Inc.
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Funeral Consumers Alliance of Monterey Bay
Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services, Inc.
Graduate Student Association of the University of
California, Santa Cruz
Gray Panthers, California
Gray Panthers, Berkeley
Gray Panthers, Sacramento
Gray Panthers, South Bay
Grass Valley Religious Society of Friends Meeting
Green Party of Marin
Green Party of San Luis Obispo
Green Party of Santa Clara County
Green Party of Santa Cruz County
Greenlining Institute
H. William Taeusch, M.D., Chief, Pediatric Service San
Francisco General Hospital
Haddad's Fine Arts, Inc. Small Business
Hadassah, Central Pacific Coast Region
Halstead R. Holman, M.D., Guggenheim Professor of Medicine,
Emeritus - Stanford University
Health Access, California
Health Care for All, California
Health Care for All, Marin
Health Care for All, Los Angeles County
Health Care for All, Sacramento Valley
Health Care for All, San Diego
Health Care for All, San Francisco/Mid-Penninsula
Health Care for All, San Joaquin
Health Care for All, Santa Barbara
Health Care for All, Santa Cruz
Health Care for All, Silicon Valley Coalition
Health Care for All, Sonoma County
Health Care for All, South Bay/Long Beach
Health Care for All, Tulare-Kings Counties
Hope Dance
Independent Employees of Merced County
Independent Living Center of Southern California
Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County
Inverness Public Utility District
JERICHO
Jewish Civic Action Network
John F. Kennedy Club of the San Joaquin
Just Health Care Committee
Korean Resource Center
Kramer Translation, small business
Lambda Letters Project
Lake County Employees Association, Inc.
Latino Issues Forum
Law Offices of Frederic L. Harvey
League of Women Voters, California
League of Women Voters, Claremont
League of Women Voters, Los Angeles
League of Women Voters, Marin County
League of Women Voters, Palos Verdes
League of Women Voters, Pasadena Area
League of Women Voters, San Luis Obispo County
League of Women Voters, Santa Barbara
League of Women Voters, Tulare County
League of Women Voters, West Contra Costa County
Leibman and Associates, Los Angeles
Life Made Easy, small business
Low-Income Self-Help Center
Margaret Wheeler, M.D., Director, Primary Care Internal
Medicine Residency Program UCSF
Marin Health Care District Board
Martin Luther King Legacy Association
Mental Health Association, California
Mental Health Association, Santa Barbara County
Metropolitan Community Church, Los Angeles
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Monterey Park Democratic Club
Monterey Peninsula Friends (Quakers) Meeting
Musicians Union, Local 6 AFL-CIO
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Southern Santa
Barbara County
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,
Pasadena Branch
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
National Association of Social Workers, Santa Barbara Unit
National Association of Working Women, Bay Area Chapter
National Council of Jewish Women, California State Public
Affairs
National Council of Jewish Women, Sacramento
National Organization for Women, California
National Organization for Women, San Jose/South Bay
Natural Methods Healthcare of Sonoma
Neighbor to Neighbor, San Francisco
North Coast Clinics Network
North Marin Water District
Oak Grove Educators Association, San Jose
Ocean Psychological Services
Ojai Valley Democratic Club
Old Lesbians Organizing for Change
Older Women's League of California
Older Women's League, San Francisco
Orange County Interfaith Coalition for Social Justice
Organization of Farmworker Women Leaders in California
Organization of SMUD Employees
Ortiz Consulting Services, Walnut Creek (small business)
Pacific Palisades Democratic Club
Paso Robles Democratic Club
People United for Economic Justice, Santa Barbara
People's Democratic Club, Santa Cruz County
Philippine Nurses Association of Southern California
Physicians for Social Responsibility, Bay Area
Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles
Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sacramento
Planned Parenthood, Los Angeles
Planned Parenthood, Orange and San Bernardino Counties
Planned Parenthood, Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis
Obispo Counties, Inc.
Progressive Christians Uniting
Progressive Democrats of the East Bay
Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles
Progressive Jewish Alliance
Protection and Advocacy, Inc.
Rainbow Coalition, West Contra Costa County
Resource Center for Nonviolence
Robert N. Hamburger, M.D., Prof. of Pediatrics Emeritus,
U.C. San Diego School of Medicine
Salud Para La Gente, Inc.
San Bernardino Public Employees Association
San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council
San Gabriel Valley Democratic Women's Club
San Gabriel Valley Pharmacists Association
San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers, AFT
Local 1493
Santa Barbara Progressive Coalition
Santa Cruz County Women's Commission
Santa Rosa City Employees Association
Santa Rosa Democratic Club
Save the San Jose Medical Center Coalition
Screen Actors Guild, AFL-CIO
Sequoia Medical Associates, Inc.
Service Employees International Union, California State
Council
Service Employees International Union, Local 415
Service Employees International Union, Local 949
Service Employees International Union, Local 1000
Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network
Sherman Oaks Democratic Club
Sober Living Network
Social Justice Alliance of the Interfaith Council of Contra
Costa County
Social Justice Center of Marin
Sonoma Valley Health Care District
Sonoma Valley Hospital
South County Democratic Club, San Luis Obispo
Southern California Ecumenical Council
Southern California Public Health Association
Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los
Angeles
South County Democratic Club of San Luis Obispo
St. Mary's Center
Thomas Bodenheimer, M.D., Professor of Medicine, University
of California San Francisco
Torrance Democratic Club
Twenty-eighth Assembly District Committee of the California
Democratic Party
U.S.A/Cuba InfoMed
Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura, Social Action
Committee
Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Goleta - Social
Concerns Committee
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, San Luis Obispo County
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Santa Cruz County
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, California
Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento
Unitarian Universalists of Santa Clarita Valley, Social
Justice Committee
United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 428
United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 248 Retirees Club
United Methodist Church, Los Angeles Area
United Methodist Church, Connectional Ministries
United Nurses Associations/Union of Health Care
Professionals
United Teachers Los Angeles
University of California at Santa Cruz College Democrats
Valley Democrats United
Valley Women's Club, Ben Lomond
Venice Family Clinic
Virgil Wood Pool Service - Anaheim, CA Vote Health
Wanning Design Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club
West Hollywood Democratic Club
West Los Angeles Democratic Club
WRAP Family Services
Women For:
Women Helping All People
Women's Coalition South Bay
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Pajaro
Valley Branch
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom,
Peninsula Branch
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, San
Jose
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Santa
Cruz


Opponents:
America's Health Insurance Plans
American Electronics Association
Association of California Life and Health Insurance
Companies
California Association of Health Plans
California Association of Health Underwriters
California Chamber of Commerce, California
California Chamber of Commerce, Chico
California Chamber of Commerce, Orange
California Chamber of Commerce, Palm Desert
California Chamber of Commerce, Redondo Beach
California Chamber of Commerce, San Rafael
California Chiropractic Association
California Family Alliance
California Healthcare Institute
Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California
Flex Support
Health Net
Insurance Brokers and Agents of the West (IBA West)
National Federation of Independent Business
National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors of
California
Scripps Health Insurance
South Bay Association of Chambers of Commerce
South Orange County Regional Chambers of Commerce
Western Growers


http://leginfo.ca.gov/

[Technowitch]

4. Why does this list not surprise me at all?

*lol*

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. didn't they have the same problem in Canada?

FYI, Single Payer in Canada came from a single province doing this

[eridani]

6. Indeed they did

Doctors actually went on strike over the issue. They quickly came around when their incomes went up by a third due to people seeking treatment for previously unmet needs.

One thing has changed--medical providers are getting damned sick and tired of being insurance company serfs being pushed around by beancounters.

[Technowitch]

7. Case in point--

A friend of ours was diagnosed with colon cancer not long ago. He kept bragging about how his employer-provided insurance was top-notch -- and indeed for a long while, it looked like it was. They covered almost everything.

Right up until the point when it came time to start the chemo. He was set to start just last week. He lined up everything -- the oncologist, the place where it'd be done, even participated in deciding which course of treatment seemed best (and it wasn't even the most expensive).

His insurance company contacted him and said, "We don't want you going through this oncologist anymore. You have to find a new one." Reason? None especially. They're just jerking him around.

Thankfully, he seems to have found a similarly qualified oncologist, although it's going to take a while before the same level of familiarity and comfort is back again.

[haele]

8. We were talking to the Scripps Urgent Care doctor yesterday -

He had so impressed us, my husband asked if there was any way he could get the man for his private doctor. The doctor said the reason he's working Urgent Care instead of private practice is because he can't spend time with the patients in private practice if he wants the practice to make money.
Working Urgent Care, which is apparently set up similar to what I remember the Navy uses for it's medical care (basically, the Navy is responsible for controlling the patient to doctor ratio in terms of what patients can be seen, the facility and support, the doctor is responsible only for the care itself and doesn't have to worry about the paperwork and what type of care he is allowed to give) gives him so much more freedom to actually see and talk to the patients instead of just scheduling them 3 months later and seeing them for only ten minutes a pop to keep the insurance companies happy.
Yeah, we can't have that nasty Canadian Socialist Medical care, now, can we? (/sarcasm)

Haele

[haele]

9. Sorry - Dupe

Sorry. Dupe
Haele

[Liberty Belle]

10. Fantastic, Nadin! Do you have a link to the full story?

[Bullwinkle925]

11. We shall have to keep a watchful eye on this one!

[realFedUp]

12. A sample letter to send to your Assembly person...

Carol Liu is one of mine...find out who yours is and
tell them to support this bill.

The Honorable Carol Liu
State Capitol, Room 4112
Sacramento, CA 95814
(Fax: [phone])

Re: Support for SB840 (Kuehl)

Dear Assemblymember Liu:

I am writing to express my support for SB 840, the California Health Insurance Reliability Act (CHIRA), which will provide all Californians with comprehensive health insurance and give them the ability to choose their own physician. This model is estimated to save $8 billion, in the first year alone, in statewide health care spending. It eliminates current administrative waste by consolidated the functions of many insurance companies into one comprehensive plan. It will save money for families, businesses, individuals and government, both state and local.

CHIRA will affordably insure every resident of California who is currently uninsured, underinsured or who is struggling with escalating premiums. CHIRA will provide medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage, including hospitalization, diagnostic services, mental health and substance abuse treatment and chiropractic care, without deductibles or co-payments.

The urgency of this bill (SB 840) grows with every passing week. Californians want a health care system they can rely on. Please take a stand in support of real health reform!
It would really help if you joined the effort as a co-author. Thanks, in advance, for your efforts on our behalf.

Yours truly,

Address

[99Pancakes]

13. This is excellent news!

Thanks!