California Health Care Reform Is Dead – or Is It?

By Alicia Lanier, REALTOR

By now you’re probably aware that in late-January, the Governor’s compromise health care reform bill, Assembly Bill x1.1, was voted down by the Health Committee of the California State Senate. The rejection was just days after a long 10-hour day of public testimony by both proponents and opponents. During the hearing, a legislative analysis of the bill revealed there were damaging fiscal problems with the bill.

The Health Committee chaired by Senator Sheila Kuehl – who introduced SB 840 with a single-payer health care plan endorsed by many progressive groups – almost unanimously voted against AB x1.1 which was strongly supported by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Our own Silicon Valley State Senator Elaine Alquist, a member of the committee, voted to oppose.

Speaker Nunez and Governor Schwarzenegger earlier had filed a ballot initiative to finance the compromise health care plan by almost doubling the state tax on cigarettes to $1.75/pack. However, it became apparent this would not be enough financing and, with California facing a fiscal crisis, this was the kiss of death.

Yet some observers of the California political scene wonder if health care reform is truly and finally buried, especially considering the statement released by Senator Kuehl on January 28, 2008:

“As Chair of the (California) Senate Health Committee, I promise that we will continue to move on the issue of healthcare reform. All over the state, people are letting us know that they are fed up with seeing their health insurance premiums rise, their coverage drop and their out of pocket expenses increasing every year.  Just today, we heard from over 400 medical students in the Capitol to lobby for SB 840 that they simply want to be paid a fair reimbursement for the work they will do and who also don’t want to be put in the position of trying to extract every last dime from patients who already pay for insurance.

“We in the State Senate will continue to work with the Assembly, the Governor’s office and with all stakeholders to put forward a healthcare reform plan that will go beyond fixing symptom after symptom and give the real cure: universal, affordable, choose-your own doctor, comprehensive coverage.”

Will SB 840, the single-payer bill, be resurrected this year? You will remember that it was passed by California lawmakers in 2006, only to be vetoed by the Governor. Now that the Governor’s plan has been vanquished, and its successor “compromise bill” roundly defeated, one wonders whether Senator Kuehl and single-payer supporters can breathe new life into SB 840. 

In fact, a message now being circulated from Senator Kuehl’s office asserts:

“SB 840 is alive and well in the Assembly Appropriations committee, much further along in the legislative process than it was in 2006 … Legislative deadlines for passage out of fiscal committees aren’t until August 15th and, between now and then, grassroots organizing and education efforts are really taking off.  Every day, Senator Kuehl and her staff receive requests for presentations regarding SB 840, the truly universal healthcare bill.”

Meanwhile, on the national scene, health care reform has been a key issue addressed by both Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama, the last two candidates standing in the Democratic Party’s presidential primary. And even Senator John McCain has his own Republicanesque version of a health care plan. Neither Senator Clinton or Senator Obama are openly supporting a single-payer system, possibly in an effort to sidestep any potential for Republicans to accuse one or the other of supporting “socialized medicine” in the general election. Although … let me see … doesn’t Medicare look and feel like “socialized medicine”?

In fact, a recent editorial in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, proclaimed both candidates “agree that the government should essentially expand Medicare to give every American a choice of enrolling in the federal program.” In my opinion, there is a rare opportunity this election year for the single-payer advocates nationwide to band together and press their case with both candidates. Or, at least, the winning Democratic Party candidate. If recent polls are to be believed, voters might just be ahead of all the politicians on this issue.

Related Blogposts:
January 15, 2008: California Health Care Reform Battle Heats Up As Governor, Speaker File Ballot Initiative For Fall
October 30, 2007: “Trick” or “Treat” for Health Care Reform? 

Alicia Lanier is a REALTOR and member of the Coldwell Banker Diamond Society – Top 8% of Agents Internationally  www.AliciaLanier.com  408-491-1634