The campaign timing is
great and there will be other actions around the state; by a CTA
demonstration/press conference in SFO,
Let's tell
SIGN SB840 Into Law
Tel: 916-445-2841, Fax: 445-4633, Email:
governor@governor.ca.gov ,
(& please cc sphc@mcn.org) or Link to: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/
Just health care is a prerequisite for a truly just society.
tune into
KZYX/KZYZ (or streaming at KZYX.org) Community Radio at
Also, http://sphc.mcn.org
for all the details and Stop Saying "Single Payer"
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/091406HA.shtml for
fun & enragement.
Among the
statements made by the Governor in his veto press release:
Gov.
"Socialized medicine is not the solution to our state's health care
problems".
~SB840
is not socialized medicine, it is a non-profit health insurance system which
enables every Californian's free choice of health care providers through an
insurance agency that collects and disburses funds similar to current practice;
but with social benefit (and cost savings) and
minus corporate profit.
Gov.
"This bill would require an extraordinary redirection of public and
private funding by creating a vast new bureaucracy to take over health
insurance and medical care for Californians -- a serious and expensive
mistake."
~
Wrong again, SB840 does not take over medical care and the "vast
bureaucracy" is primarily a redirection and extension/scaling
up of the effort of current agencies. Virtually all health care facilities
and organizations will continue their roles as providers and not be forced to
make "adjustments" due to the financial impact of uninsured people.
Gov.
"Such a program would cost the state billions and lead to significant new
taxes on individuals and businesses, without solving the critical issue of
affordability. I won't jeopardize the economy of our state for such a
purpose."
~
Wrong again, and again. SB840 would improve the economy by reducing most
employers/employees health care costs, would improve the competitive position
of all employers, would save the state tens of billions of dollars and would
provide an economic boom for California. The only losers are the
insurance companies.
And
on top of this, SB840 would create an atmosphere of community empowerment that
would revolutionize the quality of life in
It
appears that our governor hasn't even read this legislation; and that
cynical attitude is a pretty good indication of his attitude. Let's
ask him again to sign SB840 and begin an era of transformation - or do it
ourselves locally! ~Bernie
Macdonald http://sphc.mcn.org
Press Conferences sponsored by a broad coalition of SB
840 supporters are being held throughout
It is critical that everyone who cares about true
healthcare reform let the Governor know that we will not give up until we've
reached universal healthcare in
Locations and contact information are listed below.
(619) 543-6222
Contact:
Margaret Shelley, CSEA
(858) 202-2617 (o)
(619) 884-6725 (c)
Contact:
Jim Walker, CSEA
(818) 502-3847 (o)
(661) 839-2925 (c)
Emily Gold, Sen. Kuehls
office
(310) 441-9084 (o)
Southwest Corner of Fresno
St & Alluvial
(near
Contact:
Joyce Hale, CSEA
(559) 244-5315 (o)
(559) 977-3139 (c)
San Francisco/Bay Area Location
SF General
(415) 206-8000
Contact:
Monadel Herzallah, CSEA
(925) 288-1155 (o)
Marta Ramirez, CSEA
(408) 261-7982 (o)
(510) 282-3813 (c)
Contact:
Luci Clark, CSEA
(916) 727-7313 (o)
(209) 712-4712 (c)
.
Governor Vetoes SB840/Single Payer Health Care
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,
I am amazed at your veto of SB840/Single Payer Health
Care. With one uncaring motion you have trivialized the health plight of
all non-wealthy Californians and set back our economy by continuing the
escalating employment health-care burden of our businesses. This gesture
is cynical beyond belief and will likely be rewarded in kind by the now
awakened citizens of our state.
Your opportunity for leadership in
For a Just Society,
BC Macdonald,
In the
The SB840 press release, an insult to citizen's intelligence and an excellent example of NuSpeak
Governors veto release: http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/3751
Media Response: http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2006/09/schwarzenegger_21.html
Well, now well definitely have a new
governor; and early next year well have a passed and signed off health care
bill and you can bet on it!! ~BC
Macdonald
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SB840/Single Payer Health Care
* * * * * * * * * *PASSED!! on
SB840/Single Payer Health Care passed CA Assembly 43-31 and
was on the Governors desk on Friday, 9-1
California Assembly Approves Universal Health Care
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/082906HA.shtml
The Democratic-controlled Legislature is on the verge of sending
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger a bill that would create a state-run universal health
care system, testing him on an issue that voters rate as one of their top
concerns in this election year.
The opportunity of a lifetime - to be an active proponent for
Universal Health Care by facilitating the governor's signoff of SB840 ~
The message is "Sign SB840/Single Payer Health Care Bill for
the health of all Californians" with personal perspectives added to
your missive to:
Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Phone: 916-445-2841, Fax: 916-445-4633
or
email: governor@governor.ca.gov (Subject: Please Sign SB840 - SPHC)
or link: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/ (select "Other" Subject &
use Please Sign SB840 - SPHC)
(Both of these
should provide a receipt in return for your correspondence)
Message:
Please sign Sheila Kuehl's SB840/Single Payer Health Care bill (CHIRA) for the
physical and mental health of ALL Californians. Your signature will begin
an era of truly humane politic for
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August ALERT
SB840 is at a critical vote stage now in the California legislature!!
Take this moment to demand your legislator to say yes to
Universal health care in our state go here and
begin~!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Community Forum on SPHC: SB840 & Beyond
July 7th at
Fort Bragg Town Hall
A clear description of the workings of SB840 followed by a
Community forum addressing
needs and strategies to make
Single Payer Health Care happen in our communities now.
.
Resources: NEW
http://www.singlepayernow.net
http://www.healthcareforall.org
.
Long
expected - SB1784 tax bill to fund SB840 is at:
http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_1751-1800/sb_1784_bill_20060224_introduced.html
On the senate floor in August and will
move to the assembly quickly
..
From Senator Kuehl on SB840, Single Payer
Health Care May 10, 2001
The Democratic Party
convention held in
A motion supporting SB 840, introduced by
board member Julie Korenstein was approved Tuesday, May 9 without objection by
the LAUSD Board of Education. LAUSD is the largest school district in
Assemblymember Jenny
Oropeza (
The OneCareNow.org campaign in support
of SB 840 has had a major boost
as the
Economist Paul Krugman calls for single payer - Economist and NY Times columnist Paul Krugman makes an excellent case for single payer in both his May 1, 2006 opinion piece "Death by Insurance" in the NY Times and a more detailed article in the NY Review of Books.
A new
statewide poll conducted by the
organization PowerPac, finds that Latinos, the fastest growing demographic in
Physicians for
National Health Program, (PNHP) held their Leadership Training in
Medical students,
residents, physicians, and allied health professionals spent these days absorbing
new data, making contacts with each other and planning new activities
(including outreach to Kaiser Physicians, medical schools, and other
professional schools including public health, law, public policy and business).
Please remember to email or call the California Physicians Alliance if you are
holding a talk or sponsoring an event. Our email is capa@jps.net of phone: (510)
832-7134.
SB840, Single Payer Health Care for All Californians
Latest
Update April 9, 2006
California
Health Insurance Reliability Act Update
by Sara Rogers
Rising health care costs have been making
news headlines for nearly a decade now, and health care reform is firmly rooted
as a staple of dinner table conversation. We hear every year that health
insurance premiums are swelling by double digits, and most of us have felt the
impact of this on our pocketbook (or perhaps our credit statements). We hear
that our hospital services are increasingly strained by rising numbers of uninsured
Californians, most of whom are average working families. If General Motors is
any indication, we all have good reason to wonder if the health care system is
even going to be there when we need it.
The debate around health reform seems to be limited to bickering about who is
going to pay for these huge increases in health care costs; should physicians
earn less, should hospitals charge less, should employers pay more, should
consumers pay more? The more difficult question, one that SB 840 helps to answer,
is, Why are health care costs rising in the first place?
Senate Bill 840 (Kuehl), the California Health Insurance Reliability Act, is
Californias plan to establish a system of universal health insurance in
California. It provides every California resident with comprehensive health
care benefits in a way that is affordable for individuals and businesses,
contains the growth in health care spending, and guarantees the right of the
patient to choose his or her own physician.
A recent survey published by Small Business California found that 52% of small
businesses would support a single-payer system similar to what Canada has
where the government finances health care but keeps the delivery of health care
to mostly private sources. Another poll published by the California Public
Policy Institute found that 60% of Californians support this kind of model.
These indications point to a growing sense of urgency for change, one that
could create a favorable wind for SB 840. The California Nurses Association recently
announced that they wanted to become the principal sponsor of SB 840. The
nurses decided to make universal healthcare their number one priority after
several hundred nurses went to volunteer in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
and discovered that a large number of the patients they were helping were
receiving medical care for the very first time in their lives.
A growing network of organizations is pushing for this change on a grassroots
level throughout the state. Building upon the organizing work of Health Care
for All and the California Physicians Alliance (CaPA), teachers, school
employees, health advocates, social workers, medical students, retiree groups,
faith-based groups, and others are working to build an effective citizens
movement strong enough to overcome opposition by the insurance industry.
Across the state, this coalition is actively organizing educational forums,
letter writing campaigns, speakers trainings, and more. They are asking City
Councils, Boards of Supervisors, School Boards, and even Water Districts to
pass resolutions in support of SB 840. They are coordinating with one another,
sharing materials and working together on this common goal.
SB 840 is currently in the Assembly, having passed the Senate policy committees,
the Senate Floor, and the Assembly Health committee. The next hurdle is the
Assembly appropriations committee. The deadline in that committee is August
18th.
In addition, Senator Kuehl has introduced SB 1784 to establish a mechanism to
collect premiums and consolidate state and federal money in this system. SB 840
will be funded by consolidating all the public money spent on health care, as
well as replacing the private premiums, co-payments and deductibles, now paid
by individuals and employers, with premiums paid to the system. The Lewin
study, available at www.healthcareforall.org provides a glimpse of the kinds of
premiums it might take to fund the system. SB 1784 simply creates the mechanism
needed to collect those premiums.
To become involved with this growing movement, please visit
www.healthcareforall.org and contact your local chapter President. To add
yourself to our email update list, email Senator.Kuehl@sen.ca.gov with
subscribe SB 840 in the subject line.
Current
SB840 STATUS- July 2005: SB840 APPROVED IN ASSEMBLY HEALTH COMMMITTEE ~
waiting in rules committee
On
In place of all current premiums, deductibles, co-pays and
other out of pocket expenses, 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.
SB 840 is the only bill being discussed in the legislature that enables the
State of California to utilize its full purchasing power to negotiate bulk
discounts for prescription drugs and durable medical equipment like all other
industrial countries. Medical care, retail pharmacy sales and other
health care delivery services would remain private and subject to competition.
SB 840 is designed to put no new burden on Californias
general fund. It is based on a model developed from an analysis of
California health plans by the Lewin Group, an independent healthcare
cost/benefit analysis firm. The Lewin model, detailed in a report
released in January of this year, details ways by which SB 840 can reduce
overall healthcare costs in California while insuring every resident at a high
level of coverage.
You can access the new, amended version from the Senate
website at
|
|
- 197092 bytes |
- 404416 bytes |
or status at http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_0801-0850/sb_840_bill_20050722_status.html or at http://www.healthcareforall.org ; links for these sites are at http://sphc.mcn.org
Bill Update: SB 840 is not going to have fiscal
language added at this stage. It will remain a "policy"
bill. The substance of the act will be divided into two bills (the policy
bill and the fiscal bill). SB 840 will remain the policy bill with all of the
benefits, governance structure, transitional procedures, delivery of care
details, consumer advocacy and protections and structures for efficiencies and
savings and sustainability spelled out. Funding
for SB840/CHIRA will be developed in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee
with Senator Mike Machado, Chair, taking the lead in analyzing different
funding plans. The first hearing will be this June 2005, when experts
will begin to look at the possibilities. (As many of us know, the Lewin
Group has done two cost/benefit studies of proposals that address
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Sara Rogers 916.651.4023 or Robin Podolsky 310.441.9084
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
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."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
SB921 now is
.
SB840, California Health Insurance Reliability
Act
The California Health Insurance
Reliability Act, CHIRA, SB 840, Kuehl passed the Senate Health
Committee on 4/28 by a vote of 7 4 with all the Democrats on the
committee voting for the bill and all the Republicans voting against it.
The bill will now go to the Senate Appropriations Committee and then to the
Senate Floor before June 3, 2005.
Minor
amendments were made to the bill following the vote in the Senate Insurance
Committee on April 6. You can access the new, amended version from the
Senate website at www.sen.ca.gov or at www.healthcareforall.org
Senate Appropriations Committee: SB 840 will be heard in the Senate
Appropriations Committee late May. The bill has strong support
among the Democrats on the Appropriations Committee, as shown in the list
below:
Democrats on the Appropriations
Committee:
Sen. Migden, Chair -- Coauthor, Sen. Alquist -- Coauthor, Sen. Bowen, Sen.
Escutia -- Coauthor, Sen. Florez -- Coauthor, Sen. Murray -- Coauthor, Sen.
Ortiz -- Principal Coauthor, Sen. Speier -- Chair of Insurance Ctte, which SB
840 passed
Senate Floor: According to the amended
bill, the latest list of Senate coauthors of SB 840 is as follows: Alquist, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Escutia, Figueroa, Florez, Lowenthal, Migden, Murray, Ortiz, Perata,
Romero, and Soto.
All other
Democratic Senators need to hear from their constituents prior to June 3.
Identify your own State Senator and Assemblymember online by visiting http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html
Bill Update: SB 840 is not going to have fiscal
language added. It will remain a "policy" bill. The
substance of the act will be divided into two bills (the policy bill and the
fiscal bill). SB 840 will remain the policy bill with all of the benefits,
governance structure, transitional procedures, delivery of care details,
consumer advocacy and protections and structures for efficiencies and savings
and sustainability spelled out
Funding for SB840/CHIRA will be developed
in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee with Senator Mike Machado, Chair,
taking the lead in analyzing different funding plans. The first hearing
will be this June 2005, when experts will begin to look at the
possibilities. (As many of us know, the Lewin Group has done two
cost/benefit studies of proposals that address Californias health
system.) A fiscal bill based on feedback from these hearings will be
introduced in January 2006.
Organizational
letters are especially important now and need to be re-submitted from last year. Please send
hardcopy to State Capitol, Senator Kuehl, Room 5108, Sacramento, CA
95814 and HCA (POB 460622, San Francisco, CA 94146). Fax/emails
should be sent to senator Kuehl's office fax (916) 324-4823 or Senator.Kuehl@sen.ca.gov and a
copy to (707) 937-0603 or omni@mcn.org
(Endorsed by the Green Party of
(Endorsed by the Green Party of
(Endorsed by the Coastal
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A 12% payroll tax (4% employee, 8% employer) finances full,
non-cosmetic health care for all Californians. The current
infrastructure stays in place (except for insurance companies and their greedy
CEO's) and we conservatively save $250+ billion over the next 10
years.
ACTIONS: 1. Get fully
informed and support the legislative actions to begin this month; involve
friends and neighbors; inform your community. 2. Solicit & Collect
affirmative letters from organizations in your community.
YES - Single-Payer Health Care in
Lewin Report: www.healthcareforall.org, Summary:
www.healthcareforall.org/summary.pdf
Health Affairs,
February 23, 2005, U.S. Health Spending Projections For 2004-2014
Projected National Health Expenditures (NHE) for 2005:
$1,936.5 billion - Total NHE; $6,423.1 - NHE per capita; 15.6% - NHE as percent
of GDP http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.w5.74
These numbers are from the Office of the Actuary, Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS). These are very useful numbers for Health Care advocacy
work since they represent what we are spending this year on health care,
qualified as "CMS projections for 2005."
------------------------------- H I S T O R Y
------------------------------------
Health Care For All
Californians with Senate Bill 921 (Kuehl)
(Details: Senate http://info.sen.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=sb_921&sess=CUR&house=B&site=sen
)
Assembly http://info.sen.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_921&sess=CUR&house=B&site=sen
"of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health
care is the most shocking and inhumane." Martin Luther King, Jr.
Fellow Californians;
We are on the brink of a
significant breakthrough in realizing
Just think about what the societal benefits can be with the empowerment of being part of this process and knowing that friends and people everywhere are protected and valued.
From: Senator Kuehl <Senator.Kuehl@SEN.CA.GOV>
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 12:47 PM
Subject: URGENT ALERT: SB 921 Status Update
Dear SB 921 Supporters:
I want to praise you and thank you so much for your incredible work on
behalf of SB 921. Our success in moving through the Senate was due, in no small
part, to your steadfast advocacy and passion. We have surpassed the
expectations of many. We have 19 committed co-authors and 8 pages of
organizations that support the bill. We have moved closer to Universal Health
Care than ever before in
I have made a strategic decision that I believe will improve the
possibility of getting a 2/3 vote in favor of SB 921 on the Assembly floor. And
I have recommendations about how we can all best spend our time on behalf of SB
921 in the coming months.
I have requested that SB 921 not be heard in Assembly Health Committee
on July 8 or at any time during the current legislative session. I made this
decision for a number of reasons.
First, the attention of the Legislature is totally on the budget. SB 921
cannot now get the attention from legislators it needs and deserves. I think we
have a better chance to get that attention next year. I know my colleagues are
interested in health system reform and will be ready to focus on it in January.
When we have their ear we could have more success at getting the 2/3 vote we
need.
Secondly, I want to give my staff time to further craft the details of
the reform. There area number of complex issues still to be decided, such as
how to equitably tax Californians for universal health care and how Worker's
Compensation might be integrated into a single payer system.
Thirdly, it is not at all certain that we can get the needed votes in
the Assembly Health Committee. I do not want to take the risk of killing the
bill. I prefer to let it sit in the Health Committee while we resolve the
budget crisis and work further on the reform and have it heard and voted on in the
next legislative session which begins in January 2004.
The time between now and January must be used to build support for SB
921. It is critical that we return in January with even more support than we
have now and that legislators are aware of that support. So, I am asking
advocates to continue lobbying members of the Assembly; the interim presents an
excellent opportunity for constituents to reach legislators who are in their
districts for the break.
I will put significant time into building support for the bill between
now and the next legislative session. My staff will continue their work to gain
support. I am considering holding hearings on the bill in the fall through my
Senate Select Committee on Health Care for All Californians. I believe our office
and the advocate coalition should strengthen ties and coordinate efforts. Once
the budget is settled I would like to meet with the advocate steering committee
to develop a plan of action to guide all our efforts.
Once again, my deepest gratitude for your commitment and your
extraordinary work on behalf of single payer universal health care. You inspire
me!
Sincerely,
Sheila Kuehl Senator
23rd District
Now is the time to move together towards creation
of a populist tsunami of support for Universal Health Care. We have
6 months to create a massive portfolio of supporters in
the personal and organizational sectors that will be irrefutable
this winter. We will achieve social justice in the midst of fiscal and electoral
politics which have not been experienced for over seventy years and are a
component of a spur towards a just social order. We owe it to ourselves
and the future to achieve this goal, and it is eminently clear that SB921
is a concrete, achievable accomplishment that is pivotal in our social
progress. Pura Vida, ~~Bernie
Macdonald
SB921 History
June 30th * Removed from consideration from this legislative session
June 4th **** Full Senate - Passed 25 yes, 14 no on strict party lines.
May 29th *** Appropriations - Passed out with 8 yes, 5 no
May 7th ** Health and Human Services Passed out with 8 yes, 3 no, 2 abstaining
April 30th * Insurance Passed out with 5 yes, 3 no, 1 abstaining.
BC Macdonald 937-4352, sphc@mcn.org
Sample Letter of Support for SB 921
The Health Care for All Californians Act
Please send letters of support by Fax or Mail to:
Senator Sheila Kuehl
State Capitol, Room 4032
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: (916) 324-4823
Use this sample letter as a model in writing your own letter of support and please send on your organization's letterhead.
(date), 2003
Senator Kuehl
State Capitol, Room 4032
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax 916.324.4823
Re: Support for SB 921 (Kuehl)
Dear Senator Kuehl:
I am writing to express my organization's support for SB 921, the Health Care for All Californians Act, which establishes a single comprehensive health plan for all California residents at no new cost to the state.
Our health care crisis cannot be fixed with partial measures. Over the last decade, California has tried many incremental reforms, which have not been successful. Instead of improving, California's health care system has deteriorated. SB 921 corrects the underlying problems of inefficiency, waste and partial coverage that continue to undermine California's health care system.
All Californians lose when hospitals close or when emergency rooms are crowded with people who can not receive needed care in a doctor's office because they have no health insurance. All Californians lose when billions of dollars are wasted on unnecessary administrative costs. All Californians and their employers lose when rapidly rising health insurance costs threaten health insurance coverage.
Our current health care system spends between 20-30% of all healthcare dollars on administrative costs. Under the single payer system proposed by SB 921, administrative costs are reduced to 5% of the health care budget, saving $14 billion dollars that will be redirected into health care services for all Californians. Additionally, the single payer system proposed by SB 921 would lower the cost of pharmaceuticals through bulk purchasing, creating further savings. These savings would also be recaptured to provide additional coverage for Californians.
California needs a health care system that works for everyone and treats everyone equally. With seven million Californians living without insurance, Californians need a system that provides the security of knowing that they will never lose health insurance because they can't afford it, or because they have a pre-existing condition or because they lose their job. SB 921 provides such a system.
We strongly support SB 921.
Sincerely,
(your name)
(your position)
(your organization)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Please Post a copy of your submission at your reception area, cash register, bulletin board or web site!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Please share this opportunity with many business and
organizational friends to include them in this epic program for a more just
society. The
benefits of this bill cover a broad continuum of human benefit and personal
involvement will be a very satisfying aspect.
Information:
SB 921 Questions & answers SB921 Fact Sheet SB 921 Fact Sheet (800k .PDF) http://www.healthcareoptions.ca.go SB921 History
Organizations:
http://www.healthcareforall.org http://www.pnhp.org
For the ultimate, eye opening, fiscal facts on Health Care: KFF State Health Facts Online
Need further convincing?:
Mexico
signs Universal Health Plan into law on 5/14/03
SEVEN REASONS WE CAN'T AFFORD BASIC HEALTH CARE From
The LA Weekly -- Jan.'03 Edition
1. UnitedHealth Group
Inc. CEO William W.
McGuire's 2001 earnings: $58,103,499 (salary, bonus, perks/benefits,
deferred payments, exercised stock options); stock value: $378,196,614.
2. First Health Group Corp. Outgoing CEO James C. Smith's 2001 earnings: $15,282,823;
stock value: $12,216,080.
3. CIGNA Corp. CEO
H. Edward Hanway's 2001 earnings (approx.): $14,055,582; stock value:
$8,258,653.
4. WellPoint Health Networks Inc. CEO Leonard Schaeffer's 2001 earnings: $10,062,379;
stock value: $60,712,587.
5. Aetna
Inc.
CEO John W. Rowe's 2001 earnings: $ 5,557,896; stock value:
$5,864,153.
6. PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. CEO Howard G. Phanstiel's 2001 earnings: $
1,431,039; stock value: $1,181,251.
7. Health Net
Inc.
CEO Jay M. Gellert's 2001 earnings: $ 757,487;
stock value: $11,171,250.
Jennifer
Price
Total $105,250,705
----------------------
From 2001 annual reports to shareholders, available at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. Information on
CEOs of the major private health-insurance companies operating in Southern
California Bruce Bodaken of Blue Shield of California, David M. Lawrence
(outgoing) of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Howard E. Davis of Universal Care
is not readily available.
Workers Comp Heading For
Collapse, Garamendi Warns
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-garamendi1may01,1,6456244.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dpe%2Dcalifornia
State Insurance Commissioner John
Garamendi warned legislators Wednesday that unless major reforms cutting costs
are adopted this year, the state's workers' compensation insurance system
"faces total collapse." The program has been beset with financial
problems in recent years, with many carriers dropping out of the business
because it's not profitable. That has left a state-run fund responsible for at
least half of the policies held by California employees. Officials said
litigation and high fraud costs have contributed to a situation in which
California has among the highest premiums but pays among the lowest benefits of
any state.
April 24, 2003 By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Representative Richard A. Gephardt called for repealing resident Bush's tax cut
and using the money to provide health insurance for nearly every American.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/24/national/24DEMS.html?ex=1052243825&ei=1&en=4c1c547b34317fae
As have Kucinich and
Dean!