CA: LEGISLATIVE ALERT: SB840 -- socialized Medicine

[HKMk23]

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE ALERT
RE: SB 840 – Socialized Medicine
Author: Senator Sheila Kuehl
Position: Strongly OPPOSE
Status: In California State Senate

Summary of Concerns:

SB 840 is an aggressive plan to bring socialized medicine into California by replacing private health insurance with a mandatory state-run program for every California resident. SB 840 will: 1) force every California resident above poverty level to pay a state insurance premium (hidden tax); 2) destroy the current system of choices of health care coverage; 3) drive up the cost of health care coverage; 4) reduce the quality of health care available; 5) reduce the availability of health care, forcing some families to go out of state to obtain health care for their family members; 6) create a new huge government bureaucracy that will make life and death medical decisions; and 7) place all final health care decisions in the hands of a single government board and its commissioner.

A. Action:
1. Call your State Senator in Sacramento now and ask them to "Please vote No on SB 840."

B. Background:

* SB 840 would create the "California Health Insurance System" to be administered by an autonomous agency, the "California Health Insurance Agency," under the direction of the "Health Insurance Commissioner" who would be elected for terms of eight years.

* SB 840 would establish the "California Health Insurance Agency" as the sole primary provider of health insurance coverage for all California residents.

* SB 840 would prohibit all current health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies from being sold in California because they would duplicate services provided through the "California Health Insurance Agency." Individual health care service plans or insurance companies would only be able to sell medical or health services in California that the "California Health Insurance Agency" does not provide.

C. Reasons to Oppose this legislation:

1. Health care is primarily the responsibility of families and individuals, not of the government.

2. Health insurance and health care plans have operated as private for-profit or non-profit enterprises in a competitive free market. These should not be controlled or stopped from operating.

3. SB 840 effectively creates a form of taxation in the form of insurance premiums that are to be paid to the state. The state would control how that money is redistributed to pay for medical services for anyone who resides in the state.

4. SB 840 will destroy the current level of choices for health care coverage available to Californians as the "California Health Insurance Agency" dictates what health care the state will provide.

5. SB 840 interferes with the right of individuals to fully manage their own medical decisions. For instance, under SB 840 individuals can only obtain services approved by the state, and only by providers approved by the state. Morally objectionable services, such as abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, or mandatory regular psychiatric exams for everyone could be paid for. In addition, some services, such as those that help the disabled, the aged, or infants with congenital conditions could be rationed or eliminated.

6. SB 840 could result in individuals needing to purchase additional coverage for care beyond what the state's plan would provide. This would require the individual to pay into the state's plan and additionally into a private plan. Most people would not be able to afford to pay for additional plans and would be stuck with only the state's coverage.

7. Under SB 840, premiums for a state plan are very likely to be significantly higher than premiums for existing private plans, which are of a higher quality and offer more choices. Everyone above poverty level will be subsidizing the hundreds of thousands of low- or non-income individuals who will not be paying for their coverage.

8. SB 840 would allow this new state agency to issue regulations concerning your medical care without any public input or independent review by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). Current law requires the opportunity for public comment and for OAL review of government generated regulations.

[JesseJane]

"Farmland Loss: The Central Valley, which provides half of all fruits and vegetables to America, is the most threatened farm region in the country due to its massive population increase, according to American Farmland Trust.

In the past 20 years, over two million people have moved to the region, shrinking cropland by 500,000 acres. The valley’s current population of 5.5 million is expected to grow to 12.5 million by 2040, reducing farmland by another one million to 2.5 million acres." See

http://www.fairus.org/Research/Research.cfm?ID=1563&c=9

[TruthConquers]

Bump this to the very top!

This might be good for the ping list for California, farmfriend.

[SierraWasp]

I'm sorry to have to disagree, but Arnold IS the Governor and has all the political capital as the head of CA's Republican Party who won't even allow a challenge to that now!!! Tom needs to marshall whatever capital he has into winning that Lt. Governor spot and not get tangled up in a single issue strategery at this time.

[SierraWasp]

He won't! He won't even promise to support a made-to-order ballot measure that is focused solely on his well know adversaries... The Public Employee YoooooYuns!!!

What an abject wuss the big body builder has turned into!!! See him turn and run in terror!!! It's contemptable!!!

[BelegStrongbow]

Hey, Alia. This doesn't surprise me. If what I'm seeing in the other comments is true, that surprises me: that the Dems aren't simply doing this, Ahnold regardless. They really think they can simply jail the goose and that'll do it.

So glad I got outta dere.

This is reason #648 why I moved out of California.

Cheers,
Beleg

[tame]

hello, jessejane :o)

[Stu Cohen]

To be honest, considering the amount of tazes that we are paying in this country, there should be some kind of Government Healthcare. I don't think private healthcare should be illegal, but every other country that pays 50% of it's income in taxes garantees you a right to see a doctor ... and most of these countries have higher life expectancies and lower infant mortality rates than we do - so how bad can the care really be?

We have as high or higher incidences of malpractice here than every other first world country, so the myth that we have the "best care" really is just that. A myth. Most doctors are tools of the pharmaceutical industry.

[calcowgirl]

Ah, c'mon SW. Ya know it's just all part of the strategery!

First lower expectations, making people believe that he will accept the most leftist policies.
Then, the smallest move in the right direction demands applause.
It's #4 in the Arnie playbook.

[HKMk23]

Arnold has to promise to veto this.

Well and good if he does, but right now we have the opportunity to speak up and try to make sure it never gets to his desk in the first place.

Bump.

[SierraWasp]

"First lower expectations"

Wull crap! I had enuffa that under Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown!!! (or was it fruitfly Brown?)

[calcowgirl]

Nice work, HKM.

I'll send some emails/letters.

[HKMk23]

Thanks, and good on ya'!

Bump.

[Jaysun]

I moved to Oregon, which is not much better, but at least I did escape the high cost of living there...

I moved from Texas to Alabama a few years ago. Alabama is in a splendid position to deal with this. Our constitution doesn't allow things like tax hikes without a vote. The Democrats have been arguing, of course, that the constitution is outdated, but so far we've held them off.

Meanwhile, taxes remain low and companies such as Toyota, Honda, Mercades-Benz, General Electric, and Boeing have manufacturing plants here.

Alabama leads the southeast in job growth - employment is expected to grow by 2.5 percent through 2006.

Eighty one percent of Alabama companies offer full-time employees medical insurance and eighty six percent offer paid vacations.

We're also attracting a lot of large retailers. For example, Saks (Saks Fifth Avenue, Parisian, etc) is one of seven Fortune 500 companies with their world headquarters located in Birmingham.

Birmingham has emerged as a huge banking center and is now the fourth largest in the country, ranked with New York, Charlotte and Chicago. Birmingham is home to four of the top fifty largest banks in the country, more than any other city outside New York.

Bottom line, it pays to keep the socialist Democrats at bay.

[A CA Guy]

I agree with you.

[calcowgirl]

You're welcome.

Bump ;-)

[HKMk23]

SB840 LEGISLATIVE UPDATE -- CURRENT STATUS
Link to bill info page

IN THE SENATE the key contacts are:
Principal coauthor: Senator Ortiz
Coauthors: Senators Alquist, Cedillo, Chesbro, Escutia, Figueroa, Florez, Lowenthal, Migden, Murray, Perata, Romero, and Soto

IN THE ASSEMBLY the key contacts are:
Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Chan, Goldberg, and Leno
Coauthors: Assembly Members Berg, Dymally, Evans, Hancock, Jones, Koretz, Laird, Levine, Lieber, Nava, Pavley, Vargas, and Yee

This bill is slated to be heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 23rd; that's next Monday. The Committee webpage is here.

Pass the word. Let's execute.

[Myrddin]

The co-author lists contain the known members of the politburo in each chamber. The only way this won't get passed is with a veto from Arnold.

[lainde]

bttt

[Alia]

You are right. 11 Hospitals in SoCal are "bankrupt" and because of 'non-payors'. Feds were hit up by the Dem Legislature, and Feds said it was the "state's problem to solve". Ipso.. this abusive bill.

Let me remind the Good People of the US...

Californian's by a majority PASSED AND APPROVED Proposition 187 (stopping the "illegal" money raid scam at pub ed, etc.). Dems shopped a judge. The judge OVERTURNED the will of the people. And Dems in CA have stopped EVERY EFFORT to halt runaway problems. CA Dems also shot down numerous attempts by CA Repubs to HALT VOTE FRAUD. So, now Dems are proposing to punish all those currently paying medical insurance to pay for those who don't have it and for those who choose NOT TO PURCHASE medical insurance.

Oooh, can't ya just hardly wait to see how Dems are defining "below poverty level"?

Dems are trying very hard to figure out how to stop the hospitals from going backrupt. Heck.. why don't they just propose a RETROACTIVE TAX ON ALL THOSE WHO PAY MEDICAL INSURANCE. Their beloved Bill Clinton proposed a RETRO TAX.... However, they've probably already run the numbers and figured out that this new "tax" will pay for past debts in non-covered medical expenses. Think they gave those hospitals "promissory notes" to be redeemed in year whatever? I hear "election time" engines revving up...

[Alia]

Click. (and thanks for the ping). Au so-once organic "California" will become the "stem cell" "sci-fi gardening" center of the US, no doubts. And of course, the "medical communities of CA" will no doubts create extra race boxes in order to receive "grants and funds" to study the effects upon their beloved "minorities".