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There is only one solution to the health care crisis in California and the whole United States. We need a single public system which serves everyone for free.
There are two bills (one in congress and one in the state legislature) which provide for single-payer health care. "Single-payer" means the government pays the health care costs for everyone. We need both bills to pass.
The best bill is in the U.S. Congress. HR 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act, is also called Expanded and Improved Medicare for All. It's sponsored by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan.
This health care program proposes a way to control skyrocketing health costs while covering all 43 million uninsured Americans. The bill gives free choice of doctors to patients and provides full prescription drug coverage to seniors, as well as to younger people.
HR 676 would cover every person in the U. S. for medical care including prescription drugs, hospital, operations, dental and mental health. Congress will probably not pass it.
State Senator Sheila Kuehl's California Health Insurance Reliability Act has passed the Senate Banking, Finance and Insurance Committee as SB 840. All of the Democrats on the committee voted for it. It could very well pass in the state legislature. The problem will be getting Governor Schwarzenegger to sign it.
The money for SB 840 comes partly from the money that now goes to MediCal and MediCare. It will also save all the money that now goes to insurance companies and all the different business costs of our current patchwork system.
The problem with SB 840 is that it will need a payroll tax to fully fund it. This a percent tax paid by workers and employers. It's the same way Social Security is funded (see box on "What is Regressive Taxation"). When the money runs low, people will either have to pay co-payments or services will be limited in some way.
The Peace and Freedom Party has endorsed both HR 676 and SB 840. The California Health Insurance Reliability Act will start out fully funded and will cover everyone. We need to get it passed and need to pressure the governor to sign it. Then we will need to keep working to get a lasting system that is funded by the vast wealth in this state and country.
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