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JB Fenix, a medical school student, and Juner Valencia, a nursing student, want to serve all Californians in a system that supports patients and delivers high quality, affordable care. They ask for your help in fighting for single payer, California OneCare.

As Geri Jewell says, “Nobody should be able to decide who gets health care and who doesn’t.” With single payer health care, everybody is covered, all the time, for everything.

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There are nearly 7 million Californians without health insurance. Sumi Haru wants to know how anybody can think that that’s okay. Single payer, California OneCare would cover everybody, no exceptions.

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Be ready! Single payer means eliminating insurance companies for good. But they’re not going to go without a fight. F.J. O’Neil reminds us, “Whatever they say or do, don’t believe it. Just remember that single payer is the only answer.”

If you’re currently uninsured or underinsured, do you remember when was the last time you saw a dentist? Have you ever seen one at all in your life? Have your children? In California, one in four kids have never gone to a dentist, according to a just-published study in the journal Health Affairs. The problem is particularly prevalent among African-American and Latino children, whether they have dental insurance or not. And according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 100 million Americans in 2006 lacked dental coverage for a full year.

Dental care, like vision care and mental health, is often overlooked in discussions about health reform, but having healthy teeth is a very important precursor to having a healthy body. If not properly addressed, poor oral hygiene can lead to health problems, such as heart disease, low birth weight, diabetes, and stroke. It’s simply unconscionable that so many children in our state go without good oral health. An unhealthy mouth can also lead to poor self-esteem, and tragically, even death.

Uninsured Americans end up paying hundreds and thousands of dollars in out of pocket costs for dental care. But even those with dental insurance have difficulty getting affordable treatment. The online magazine Slate published a seven-part series last year called The American Way of Dentistry, a well-researched and comprehensive look at how and why dental care in America is in crisis – something many citizens are probably unaware of.

Dental care has become extremely costly, with more patients paying for dental bills themselves than they do medical bills. According to the Slate article, in the United States, the population is almost evenly divided between the dental care haves and have-nots, with a mouth full of rotting teeth a clear predictor of class. And the country will soon face a shortage in dentists as baby boomer practitioners retire, the series said.

The Slate series presents some solutions to the American dental crisis, such as mandating all dentists in training to work a year in public health, providing more loan forgiveness plans for dental students, opening up more dental schools, allowing more foreign dentists to practice in the U.S., and allowing dental hygienists to be trained to perform basic dental procedures. These solutions would certainly address the practitioner shortage problem, but I’m not sure they would adequately fix systemic-wide problems of cost and access.

The series mentions that much of our dental healthcare dollars are spent on cosmetic procedures for the affluent and not enough on caring for the oral health of the poor. What we need to do is equalize access for everyone. Requiring dental school graduates to train for a year in poor and rural areas sounds great, but shouldn’t the poor (and financially-strapped middle-class for that matter) also have access to more experienced practitioners if they wish? Shouldn’t everyone be able to count on having their dentist stick around in the community?

Fortunately, California’s single-payer healthcare legislation, SB 810, would cover dental care for all state residents. Not even Canada’s much touted single-payer healthcare system provides dental coverage for all its citizens, relying mostly on supplemental private insurance or fee for service. Rather, when it comes to dental care, SB 810 would be similar to countries in Scandinavia, where many dentists work in private practice, but services are funded through taxes. No Californian should ever have to suffer through a toothache just because he or she has no money to get it fixed.

Sylvia@californiaonecare.org

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In Spanish, actor and filmmaker Rafael Leyva reminds us that as California goes, so goes the nation. “We have a chance to show the rest of the country how successful a single payer health plan will be,” he says. “Join the campaign for California OneCare.”

]]> http://californiaonecare.org/365-ad-145-rafael-leyva/feed/ 0 http://californiaonecare.org/365-ad-144-louise-williams-2/ http://californiaonecare.org/365-ad-144-louise-williams-2/#comments Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:55:04 +0000 Sylvia Moore http://californiaonecare.org/?p=3677

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Writer Louise Williams remembers when we used to have the same family doctor for generations. Now you're lucky if your doctor stays on your insurance company's approved list for six months. Single payer, California OneCare, would mean that you could choose and keep any doctor you wish for as long as you like.

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Louise Williams remembers when we used to have the same family doctor for generations. Now you’re lucky if your doctor stays on your insurance company’s approved list for six months. Single payer, California OneCare, would mean that you could choose and keep any doctor you wish for as long as you like.

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Last weekend, Physicians for A National Health Program California held a conference in Los Angeles on SB 810 – Single Payer for all Californians. It was attended by more than 150 enthusiastic and eager people. Speakers included Dr. Margaret Flowers, who was arrested at Senator Max Baucus’s Senate Finance Committee hearing which put single payer off the table; Dr. Paul Hochfeld, leader of The Mad As Hell Doctors’ tour; and former state Senator Sheila Kuehl.

They all gave inspirational messages and examples from practical experience. Representatives of state Senator Mark Leno, California Teachers Association, California Nurses Association, California State Employees Association and California OneCare also participated.

Among the important messages were:

• There is a growing state and national movement in support of Medicare for All
• Obama’s health reform package is too complex and costly – especially for companies, individuals and families
• The federal reforms won’t work as well because there are too many giveaways to health insurance companies
• Electing a governor in November who will preserve the community’s safety net and improve civic participation in California is crucial
• Universal health care is just one brick in the foundation needed to reverse our county’s decline into income polarization and corporate control
• True success for SB 810 is a long term project, probably taking seven to ten years and a ballot initiative to achieve.

More information and copies of presentations are available at the PNHP California website and on the organization’s Facebook page.

Jeoffry B. Gordon, MD, MPH

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It doesn’t matter how young or healthy you are, says Natalie Lander, one day your body will betray you. Her dad, David Lander, adds that when that happens, you want the best that medical science can give you. But if you don’t have insurance, or your policy is cancelled, you’re out of luck. That’s why they both support single payer, California OneCare, full care, for all, for less.

COME JOIN BILL MAHER

Alongside 4 Fabulous Ladies

LILY TOMLIN – PAULA POUNDSTONE

Geri Jewell – Kathy Buckley

with celebrity guest David L. Lander

Special Guest Former Senator Sheila Kuehl

HOSTED by Fred Willard

At the

IMPROV

8162 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles, California 90046

IT’S “LAUGHING MATTERS!”

A FANTASTICALLY FUN, JAM-PACKED NIGHT…ABOUT A SERIOUS MATTER

A SPECIAL BENEFIT FOR CALIFORNIA ONECARE CAMPAIGN FOR SB 810

General admission $40 Order HERE

VIP Preferred Seating Tickets $60 Order HERE

Tickets tax deductible and all ticket proceeds go to the California OneCare Campaign