Single payer health plan begins again
Mt. Shasta News
By Paul Boerger
Published: Wednesday, June 6, 2007 5:17 PM CDT
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Defeated last year when Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a single payer medical plan bill, California State Senator Sheila Kuehl says she is ready to try again.
“I am very pleased to be re-introducing SB 840, the only truly universal and affordable healthcare proposal this year,” Kuehl said. “SB 840 offers genuine affordability, because our premiums will be based on income and each of us will pay our share, as would employers.”
SB 840 aims to comprehensively cover all Californians by consolidating all federal, state and county medical spending into one single payer fund.
Additional revenues would come from employer contributions, limited consumer co-pay and premiums based on income, and decreased costs through lower administrative spending and bulk buying of medications. The bill establishes a California Health Insurance Agency, headed by an elected official to oversee the program.
Schwarzenegger unveiled his own proposal after last year's veto. It contains the following provisions:
-- Require all individuals to have a minimum level of coverage with an enforcement system;
-- Provide low-income individuals affordable coverage;
-- Require insurers to issue health insurance with limits on how much they can charge based on age or health status; and
-- Increase Medi-Cal rates significantly.
“We want to reduce the taxes, we want to make it more affordable for everyone that gets health care and health insurance, especially for businesses also,” Schwarzenegger said in a February 2007 press conference. “We want to make sure that everyone is insured. What is also important for us is to reduce the costs of health care insurance and to make everyone responsible to have their own insurance, and to spread the costs, and for everyone to make an effort in order to get this done.”