Universal health measure revived
All Californians would be insured

SACRAMENTO-- Advocates of a plan that would eliminate private health insurance and replace it with a single government-run insurance program that would cover all Californians revived their proposal Tuesday, saying it remains "the gold standard" for providing affordable, comprehensive
healthcare.

Joined by dozens of advocates representing labor unions, consumer groups and religious organizations, Sen. Sheila Kuehl promised that lawmakers will send her single-payer health plan to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger again this year, likely setting the stage for a second veto.

Schwarzenegger has put forth his own plan for universal coverage, one that relies on an expansion of government programs, mandates on employers and individuals and fees levied on doctors and hospitals. The complex proposal has met with criticism from doctors, insurance companies, employer groups and consumer advocates, who argue the governor's plan would force people to
buy insurance policies they cannot afford.

"We will work to convince him, after he looks at everything else, to sign this bill," said Kuehl, D-Santa Monica. "If I can't convince this governor, I will work on the next governor."

Kuehl made her remarks at a Capitol news conference on the same day the California Nurses Association launched a radio and mail advertising campaign designed to build public support for the single-payer plan.

"The governor wants to force everyone to buy health insurance, regardless of cost or quality," said association President Deborah Burger. "Giving insurance companies more customers would be like treating cancer or asthma with cigarette smoke."

Backers of the single-payer plan say their approach would cut statewide healthcare costs by as much as 30 percent by eliminating insurance company profits, marketing and administrative costs, and freeing hospitals and doctors from a patchwork of complex paperwork.

Citing a 2005 analysis of her plan conducted by a nationwide firm that specializes in healthcare cost analysis, Kuehl said her plan would save $29 billion ‹ enough to expand coverage to include the more than 6 million Californians now without insurance.

The study showed that those with insurance would pay about the same or less than they now pay for healthcare, she said, about 3.5 percent of wages for workers and about 7.5 percent of payroll for employers.

"This bill would not lead to higher taxes when you take into account what you pay now and what you no longer will pay," Kuehl said.

Private insurance companies and the brokers who sell their products assert the 2005 study vastly overstates the administrative costs of insurers, meaning the projected savings are overstated.

The plan would work much like Medicare, the federal health program that provides coverage to everyone 65 and older. Kuehl rejected the label of "socialized medicine" to describe her plan, noting the government would collect premiums and pay bills but that individuals would receive care from
private doctors and hospitals.

Invoking the Medicare model, Burger said, "The same system that has improved the quality of life for our grandparents since 1965 is the system that should work for us all."

Schwarzenegger rejected a nearly identical bill last year, issuing a strongly worded veto message, calling it a "government-run healthcare system" that would "cost the state billions and lead to significant new taxes on individuals and businesses."

In a demonstration that her plan has strong support in the Democratic-controlled Legislature, Kuehl was joined by the majority leaders of both houses, each of whom is a co-author of the bill.

Kuehl, whose district includes Oxnard and Port Hueneme, also was joined by several other Democratic lawmakers, including two whose districts include portions of Ventura County: Assemblyman Pedro Nava and Assemblywoman Julia Brownley.

Legislative plans call for the creation of a conference committee later this year that will attempt to merge elements of Schwarzenegger's proposal and other proposals that would retain a role for private insurance.

Kuehl said her bill will be not be part of the conference committee's considerations because "it does not play well with the other children." Instead, she said, it will be sent to the governor independent from any other proposal.

Copyright 2007, Ventura County Star. All Rights Reserved.

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