The Campaign for a Healthy California on Wednesday denounced the failure of the California Senate to pass SB 810, the California Universal Care Act. The bill died when it remained two votes short of passage.

Democrats fell short of previous levels of support, which successfully passed similar bills through the legislature twice before, only to be vetoed by then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. This year 19 voted in favor of the bill, two against, and four abstaining in spite of intensive efforts at persuasion by grassroots proponents. The bill received no support from Republicans.

…

CHC member organizations spoke out against the disappointing vote, “Nurses will not give up on winning guaranteed universal healthcare, like SB 810” stated DeAnn McEwen, RN, Co-President of the California Nurses Association, “because we will not abandon our patients who need this vital reform.”

In other words, the movement for universal access to health care in California will not be deterred by a few short sighted lawmakers. At a time like this, I like to think of Ghandi’s famous quote: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Sylvia@californiaonecare.org

The vote was: 19 YES, 15 NO (including Dem. Calderon and Dem. Correa) and 6 ABSTAIN (which is actually a NO vote and included Dems. Padilla, Vargas, Wright and Rubio).

We have two immediate tasks: first, thank our author of SB 810, Sen. Leno, for his efforts (the legislation was not supposed to pass the Appropriations Committee!) and thank Sen. Steinberg for his assistance in getting the bill to the Senate Floor; and, second, call the 6 Senators who voted against SB 810 and give them a piece of your mind.

Lastly, California OneCare will be recommending “next steps” for the campaign in the very near future.  We are meeting with our coalition partners on Friday and will communicate to you a united strategy in the following days.

Thank you for all your help.  Without your help, the legislation would have never gone as far as the Senate Floor.  Again, wait for our suggestions for future advocacy plans.  I think you’ll be surprised because we are getting real tired of the Democrats In Name Only stopping life saving legislation:  it’s now time to take it to a new level.  Stay tuned!

Andrew McGuire
Executive Director

Sylvia@californiaonecare.org

for Single-Payer SB 810 In Tuesday’s

Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing

PLEASE CALL, FAX AND WRITE YOUR SENATOR — BEFORE NEXT TUESDAY!

California’s landmark single payer bill, SB 810, authored by Senator Mark Leno, is now scheduled to be heard in the Senate Appropriations committee on January 17th in Sacramento. The bill must pass this committee and pass a Senate floor vote before the end of January in order to then be considered in the Assembly. Your help is urgently needed to write and call your State Senator and urge him/her to vote for SB 810.

If SB 810 fails to pass Appropriations committee and the Senate floor, it can’t be heard again until it is re-introduced in 2013!

PLEASE TAKE THE FOLLOWING ACTION:

Call AND send a fax AND a written letter (emails don’t usually get through) to your State Senator’s Sacramento office, urging his/her support of SB 810. If you do not know who your Senator is, find your district here.

It is especially important to call and write your Senator if he or she is a member of the Senate Appropriations committee:

District 6      Darrell Steinberg    (916) 651-4006    Fax: (916) 323-2263
District 13    Elaine Alquist         (916) 651-4013    Fax: (916) 324-0283
District 17    Sharon Runner       (916) 651-4017    Fax: (916) 445-4662
District 23    Fran Pavley             (916) 651-4023    Fax: (916) 324-4823
District 26    Curren Price            (916) 651-4026    Fax: (916) 445-8899
District 28    Ted Lieu                   (916) 651-4028    Fax: (916) 323-6056
District 33    Mimi Walters           (916) 651-4033    Fax: (916) 445-9754
District 37    Bill Emmerson        (916) 651-4037    Fax: (916) 327-2187
District 39    Christine Kehoe      (916) 651-4039    Fax: (916) 327-2188

Join the Campaign for a Healthy California to rally in solidarity with CA-Health Professional Student Alliance Lobby Day in support of SB-810, The California Universal Health Care Act

NEW ORLEANS STYLE FUNERAL MARCH & SPEAK OUT

MONDAY, JAN. 9, 2012

11:AM: Assemble at Pershing Square, 532 South Olive St., Los Angeles 90013 (Pershing Square Metro)

11:15AM: Funeral Procession

12PM: Speak Out and Rally at “Insurance Giant” Headquarters

*End Corporate Control of Health Care

*Health Care is a Human Right

*Patients Before Profits

BRING YOUR STORIES AND PICTURES!

Contact: info@healthycaliforniacampaign.org for more info or call: 323-316-8933

]]> http://californiaonecare.org/healthcare-for-the-99-march-speak-out-jan-9-2012/feed/ 0 http://californiaonecare.org/my-healthcare-story-sarah-arsone/ http://californiaonecare.org/my-healthcare-story-sarah-arsone/#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2011 23:32:20 +0000 Sylvia Moore http://californiaonecare.org/?p=8801 Sarah Arsone]]> I pay $760 each month for Medicare. This high premium does not leave me with enough money to buy secondary insurance. Co-pays are sky high. I now need physical therapy for a sports injury. But co-pays are so high, I must do without.

I endorse SB 810 because it will make the care I need possible.

Sarah Arsone

Hernandez then complained about another popular bill, AB 52, that would have allowed state regulators to pre-approve insurance industry rate increases. He voted that one out of committee too, but said he wouldn’t support a final version unless changes were made. Under industry pressure, AB 52 soon died in the State Senate in late August. Well, turns out there may have been a reason for all of Hernandez’s hemming and hawing. According to an investigation by Think Progress, he’s been on the health lobbyists’ payroll:

State Sen. Ed Hernandez (D), the chair of the health committee, voted for AB 52 but told the press he could not support the bill in its current form. Hernandez’s income is boosted by about $69,000 a year in payments from Kaiser Health Plans, the state’s largest insurer (and one of AB 52′s most prominent opponents) in rent at an office building owned by Hernandez. The unusual arrangement might present a serious conflict of interest, but Hernandez’s spokesman told ThinkProgress that the rent payments began shortly before Hernandez entered the legislature, and that Kaiser maintains a community outreach center in the senator’s building. (emphasis is the author’s)

Hernandez’s spokesman can try to spin this stinky arrangement until he gets dizzy. It doesn’t matter that the rent payments were made before Hernandez became a state senator. What’s problematic is that Hernandez continued this financial relationship with Kaiser while still sitting on the state Senate Health Committee. At the very least, Hernandez should have recused himself from the vote on AB 52. It makes one wonder if there are any other little arrangements the senator has got going with his health lobbyist buddies? The stench of corruption here is just too great to ignore.  It’s no wonder that we, the people of California, and the United States can’t get the kind of legislation passed that will truly address the dire problems we face, which includes replacing a morally bankrupt and deadly healthcare system with one that provides high-quality and affordable care to all. Our democracy has been hijacked by unethical business interests funneling money to our so-called “representatives” by means that may be legal in this country, but elsewhere, such “arrangements” would be called by another name.

Sylvia@californiaonecare.org

Andrew McGuire, COC Executive Director

Last month’s Summer Conference on universal health care was a huge success, with activists from a variety of backgrounds convening at the University of Southern California to hear about the state of the single payer movement and where we go from here. The second annual, all-day event was organized by Physicians for a National Health Program.

Event highlights included a moving presentation by artist Teresa Brown-Gold about her project, Art As Social Inquiry, featuring portraits of Americans affected by our broken healthcare system; a highly informative and astonishing presentation by Dr. Jeoffry Gordon of U.C. San Diego about the effect economic inequality has on societal health; and a closing address by the original sponsor of SB 810, former State Sen. Sheila Kuehl. These and the other conference presentations are available to view at http://pnhpcalifornia.org/summer-conference-2011-speaker-presentations/.

One of the conference’s breakout sessions featured members of our California OneCare team: Executive Director Andrew McGuire, board member and blogger Al Saavedra, and board member Walter Heath. They each spoke about how universal healthcare activists can effectively use social networking sites and blogging to educate more citizens about single payer and help advance the cause. At the end of the long day, I’m sure everyone who attended felt re-energized to continue to fight for national, public health insurance!

Sylvia@californiaonecare.org

Al Saavedra, COC Board Member

Walter Heath, COC Board Member

Intro by Eve Gittelson

Dr. Giuseppe Del Priore

Wendell Potter

Jay Angoff

Andrew McGuire

Jay Angoff takes a question about Vermont’s recent passage of single payer health care.

Jay Angoff talks about the six-month waiting period for bridge insurance for people with preexisting conditions.

Wendell Potter talks about regulation of health insurers.

Angoff takes a question about dialysis.

Question about the impact of the federal reform law on retail workers.

Sylvia@californiaonecare.org

Assembly Bill 52, the controversial bill that would impose rate regulation on health insurers, passed out of the state Senate’s Health Committee by a 5-to-3 vote Wednesday along party lines.

The bill, authored by Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, generated intense lobbying that pitted health care advocates against medical associations and business groups.

The advocacy groups support the bill, saying regulation of insurance premiums would protect consumers from paying excessive rates and make care more affordable.

The bill now goes to the state Senate Appropriations Committee, which consists of six Democrats (Christine Kehoe, Elaine Alquist, Ted Lieu, Fran Pavley, Curren Price, Darrell Steinberg) and three Republicans (Mimi Walters, Bill Emmerson, Sharon Runner). Below are their contact information:

Senator Christine Kehoe (Chair) – (916) 651-4039
Senator Mimi Walters (Vice Chair) – (916) 651-4033
Senator Elaine Alquist – (916) 651-4013
Senator Bill Emmerson – (916) 651-4037
Senator Ted W. Lieu – (916) 651-4028
Senator Fran Pavley – (916) 651-4023
Senator Curren Price – (916) 651-4026
Senator Sharon Runner – (916) 651-4017
Senator Darrell Steinberg – (916) 651-4006

It’s highly probable that AB 52 could be watered down, given the power of the insurance industry, the intense propaganda war the insurers are engaging in, and the fact that Health Committee Chairman Ed Hernandez says he won’t vote for the bill on the floor unless there are some changes. From the Associated Press:

The bill faced an end-of-the-week deadline for committee approval, but its fate is uncertain. It has drawn no substantive Republican support and Democratic backing is wobbly amid strong lobbying by the politically influential opponents.
Health committee’s chairman, Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-Baldwin Park, pushed for significant changes to the bill before he would support it, but he voted for the measure Wednesday to keep it alive while negotiations over amendments continue.
“While I have had some concerns on your bill, I do support regulation,” Hernandez said.
He said he wants amendments to address concerns about political influence in decision making, whether outside parties could intervene in a rate case, identifying the medical costs that are built into insurance rates, and other matters before he will fully support the bill.

It’s imperative that we keep calling our representatives to overcome the power of the insurance lobby, get AB 52 passed, and onto Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. Find out your representative by clicking here. AB 52 will give millions of Californians some welcome financial relief until we can get SB 810 through and cut out the insurance industry from health care once and for all.

Sylvia@californiaonecare.org