Last night, I got some good news and some not-so-good news from Sacramento. The good news is that the Assembly and Senate passed AB 8, the bill that would actually make health care more accessible and affordable for more Californians. The bad news is that Arnold the Governator wants to veto it already. Oh yes, and our one good Democratic Senator, Lou Correa, joined all the Senate Republicans and Sheila Kuehl (HUH??!!) in voting against good health care reform. Grrr, this is frustrating.
We know how important it is to work for universal health care that truly covers all Californians, and fortunately most lawmakers in Sacramento also understand this. However, it’s sad to see that our own State Senator, someone who worked so hard to expand health care coverage for working families in Orange County as our Supervisor, vote against the one proposal that would actually move us forward toward the goal of universal health care. I can understand his concerns about AB 8 and how we’ll ultimately pay for it, but doesn’t he also think of how much we’re paying for our broken health care system?
And speaking of our broken health care system, why isn’t Arnold willing to do something meaningful about it? He says he’ll soon call a special session of the Legislature after he vetoes AB 8. But wait, why must he call a special session at all?! The Legislature has already passed health care reform, and all Arnold has to do is sign it to declare “Mission Accomplished” on his “Year of Health Care Reform”
But so long as Arnold and Lou Correa and a few single-minded single-payer supporters nitpick over possible solutions to our real health care crisis, we’ll never accomplish our goal of health care for all.
Hello Andrew,
I have never met you but, if your a poltico and have the ear of any state legislatures I have an idea that if possible can provide medical insurance to mostly everyone in California. It would requiire some laws to be changed and I would be willing to put my time into lobbying the people to make it possible.
Call me @ 714-981-1113.
Dan H- Really? So what does this plan entail? And do you know how to get the Legislature and the Governator to support it? If so, then I’d REALLY like to see your plan. Please feel free to email it to me at atdnextATgmailDOTcom, and we’ll see if you have just what we need to start solving this health care crisis. 🙂
The problem with the current proposal is it just shifts who pays the same bills! This bill protects the current insurance companies and administrators who do nothing but add costs to a hospital visit. Doctors, Nurses, Hospitals and Clinics are where the money needs to be spent. Not fatcat administrators who have their lobbyists line the pockets of our legislature!
Khuel gets it! Just having a different entity write the check is not the answer to improved healthcare for all Californians…
Hello Andy,
It’s more of an idea then a plan. But I feel strongly that with the right support everyone that works can benefit.
The insurance industry is basically a bank.
Mostly everyone who owns a home, a car or, works have some form of insurance. As an employer and individual I have insurance for mostly everything. The State has unemployment, state disability and medi-cal. Employers and employees pay into it.
Now, I’ve actually went out and bought policies for my 3 employees to cover medical, disability and life insurance for much less then what my premium for work-comp is. Why? Because the insurance industry like the medical is a monopoly. They also compete for your business.
My idea would be to use the State Disability program as a catch all for all the insurance required by the State for not only employees but, to the employees family members too.
Employers and employees would share the costs. If we allow the insurance companies to submit competing bids for all coverage including health & workman’s comp I believe insurance could be available to everyone who is employed.
It would be similar to an umbrella policy individuals have for their homes and cars to protect them.
Now people on welfare or the unemployed/unemployable are excluded. This is a program that I think would get these people into any job thus creating a problem for illegal’s getting hired because you would need to be a US or naturalized citizen to qualify.
There is no reason why I need 20 types of insurance to protect myself and my family. As an individual/family my insurance costs are less than what I pay for state mandated insurance. This is the problem because insurance companies know it’s required and they can charge a lot.
A few years ago there was a lot of money being paid out to work comp applicants then there were claims. Work comp was being used as a “welfare ticket”. Now, it’s being controlled because people found a way to reduce the costs and get rid of fraud.
If no one thinks that this would work, then no one wants health coverage to mostly everyone in this State
Can you gave a dood e mail address. Mine is; herediainc@cox.net
Dan H-
Hmmm, interesting idea. So you’d model a health care system like disability insurance? OK, I think I see how this would work. Perhaps just allowing employers to offer one insurance policy covering everything to its workers would simplify this complicated process. We’ll see.
Well, thanks for your idea… We need more good thinking if we’ll ever solve this health-care dilemma. 🙂
Andrew, I have heard Senator Correa speak at length on AB 8 and Universal Health Care. Of course Lou would like to see UHC happen for our state, but we have to consider costs. California is still in debt to the tune of 30 billion dollars. We can’t just pass a bill to completely overhaul the system without careful planning and implementation. That would be irresponsible. Even though California is still the 5th largest economy in the world, how will the change effect large and small business? How will it effect jobs?
Massachusetts was lucky. They had a budget surplus and could roll the dice. As a fiscally conservative Democrat, I want my representatives to take into account of the consequences this legislation would have on our economy. I am buying a home, paying my bills, paying off my student loans and trying to save for my children’s college fund. I would love to have universal health care for my family to alieve some of the burden, but don’t throw Lou Correa under the bus. We are all frustrated, but let’s work together on a plan that will flourish.
Adams-
Don’t worry. I’m not “throwing Lou under the bus”. I still like him as my Senator, and I’ll still do my best to ensure that Lou beats any CReep that runs against him in 2010. I’m just a little disappointed that Lou couldn’t try to make AB 8 the best possible health care solution for OC’s working families.
Right now, we have millions of Californians without ANY kind of health care coverage. Do we really realize how it’s straining our emergency rooms right now? Or how much it’s costing us to cover all those low-wage workers on Medi-Cal, as their employers (ya know, cheapskates like Wal-Mart that make the state ALREADY pay for their workers’ care) transfer their health care costs to the state?
Basically, we have a health care crisis right NOW that needs solutions NOW. And so long as we don’t solve this problem now, it will cost us more to solve it later. There are ways to fund these solutions NOW. We can make sure that large employers pay their fair share, and we can make sure that insurance providers use our premium fees more efficiently so that our health care dollars are actually spent on our health care.
Now yes, Lou did have some legitimate concerns. And no, I won’t abandon him over this one disagreement. However, I hope he soon realizes that if we don’t start working for health care solutions NOW, we’ll face far worse problems in the future.