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Rally and health fair Saturday for single-payer coverage plan

By E-R Staff
Article Launched: 04/13/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT

A rally and health fair in support of single-payer health coverage in California are planned Saturday afternoon in Chico.

The events will take place noon to 4 p.m. in City Plaza.

There will be speeches, music, information booths and continual showings of a video about state Sen. Sheila Kuehl's efforts to establish a single-payer health coverage system in California. Under a single-payer plan, health-insurance companies would be replaced by a state government agency that would collect premiums and pay health-care providers.
Proponents of the plan say it would provide better benefits, cover all Californians and save money. Two keynote speakers are slated to talk during the noon hour. They are Sara Rogers, a legislative aide to Sen. Kuehl, and Andrew McGuire, executive director of Health Care for All -- California, an organization supporting Kuehl's plan.

McGuire's organization is sponsoring rallies like the one in Chico in cities all over the state. Local proponents of the plan organized the Chico rally.
A local organization, the Butte County Healthcare Coalition, has been advocating for a single-payer system in the state for years. A hearing on Kuehl's single-payer measure, Senate Bill 840, is to be held Wednesday by the state Senate Health Committee. Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, is a member of the panel.

Kuehl, a Democrat from Santa Monica, introduced her bill in the Legislature's last session, and it passed last year. However, the governor vetoed the measure. Co-sponsors of Saturday's event include the Butte County League of Women Voters, the Butte County Healthcare Coalition, the Chico Unified Teachers Association, the California School Employees Association, the California Nurses Association and the Service Employees International Union.