The Kaweah Commonwealth, 11/10/03

SPEAKING OUT: Three Rivers a stop on the OneCareNow 365-city campaign for universal health care

by Bill Becker

OneCareNow is a grassroots organization dedicated to passage of comprehensive single-payer health insurance coverage for all Californians. On Monday, November 6, OneCareNow's Visalia coordinator, Gary Gray, joined Three Rivers healthcare reform advocates Maxine and Jim Yates and me to bring the growing movement to the attention of Three Rivers residents.

This event was held at Chump's Videos instead of the Village Market Green as originally planned. Our apologies to those who might have missed us.

Healthcare reform is a controversial issue, but almost everyone agrees that the existing system is failing millions of people who can afford neither medical care nor the premiums to obtain it through health insurance and those whose insurance is inadequate for their needs.

Stories from Three Rivers residents make the point. One woman was turned away from an emergency room because her health plan did not pay enough for any doctor to take her case. A builder who signed the OneCareNow petition of support said that he could barely pay for his own health insurance and could not even consider providing insurance for his employees.

Twenty percent of Californians do not have health insurance even though three-fourths of those have jobs. Lack of health insurance is now the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S.

In spite of the billions of dollars spent in the U.S. for medical care, more than any other nation's expenditure, the World Health Organization ranks America 37th in overall health system performance, between Costa Rica and Slovenia.

According to OneCareNow, 50 percent of each healthcare dollar is spent on administrative and clinical waste, excess drug prices, and fraud. The solution, say OneCareNow advocates, is a single-payer program like that sponsored by California State Senator Sheila Khuel and passed by the California Assembly on August 28: SB 840.

OneCareNow says that single-payer health insurance is definitely not "socialized medicine." Lie the Medicare program, patients continue to choose their own doctors.

The doctor is paid through a single government agency that both collects and distributes funds as they are needed. Most important, the doctor decides what care his or her patient needs.

Funds will be derived from existing government health programs, and single-payer premiums from both employers and employees. Overall costs would go down because of improved healthcare delivery. The Lewin Group, an independent healthcare economics analysis firm, estimates a $350 Billion savings over 10 years.

The U.S. is virtually the only developed nation that does not have some form of single-payer program. Even so, OneCareNow faces formidable opponents. Assemblyman Bill maze called SB 840 "a sham" and "irresponsible." Governor Schwarzenneger called SB 840 "socialized medicine" and vetoed it.

But OneCareNow is in it for the long haul. To learn more, log on the http://www.onecarenow.org

Bill Becker is a resident of Three Rivers.

Bill of Health: Gary Gray (right, the Visalia coordinator of OneCareNow, was in Three Rivers this week to garner support for single-payer health insurance.

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