Posted on 10/05/2006 3:20:12 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan
As Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger looks toward a second term, he has vowed to make access to health care a top priority. Schwarzenegger intends to unveil a major health-care plan in January, if re-elected. In preparation, Schwarzenegger has hired a top-level staff to actually write the proposal that includes ranking health-care experts from former Gov. Gray Davis' administration.
Richard Figueroa, a veteran health-care consultant and go-to person for health issues on Davis' executive staff, is joining Schwarzenegger's team next week, according to Capitol and private sources with direct knowledge of Figueroa's new position. They confirmed that Schwarzenegger intends to release his proposal in his 2007 State of the State address.
Just days ago, Schwarzenegger vetoed universal-health-care legislation authored by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, which would have established a government-run program to provide health care for all Californians, regardless of income.
The governor has not said what his own proposal will include, although Capitol sources say it is likely to entail some form of public-private partnership, in which workers and employers both bear a portion of the costs.
After his veto of Keuhl's bill, Schwarzenegger penned an op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune. "Affordability is the key to making our system work for everyone, and affordability is exactly what we are dedicating ourselves to," he wrote, dismissing Kuehl's bill as "socialized medicine."
Schwarzenegger's new health-care team already has begun meeting with major stakeholders in the health-care world, including business, medical and insurance groups. All have indicated the governor is serious about making health care a focus of his second term.
Health-care advocates hope Schwarzenegger's plan will include preventive care, and programs to deal with chronic afflictions and the costly care that often is required near the end of life.
"From the patient standpoint, it should allow two things, preventive care and chronic-disease management, because they address both quality and cost. The percentages are huge, 60-to-80 percent of the cost. I don't mean you can eliminate them, but you can address them and reduce them," said Bob Gore, a spokesman for Californians for Patient Care.
Figueroa, who declined to discuss his new job with Capitol Weekly, serves as a member of the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, which regulates HMOs. He is a health-insurance expert in the Department of Insurance under Commissioner John Garamendi, and earlier served as a health-insurance consultant in the Assembly. During his years in the Davis administration, he participated in major studies of state health-policy options.
"He would be incredibly valuable to the administration in trying to put an insurance-reform package together and expanding insurance in such a massive way. I think the governor would be wise to heavily rely on him. He has the technical knowledge of the insurance market to put it together," said Dustin Corcoran, the California Medical Association's top lobbyist.
Other newly hired members of Schwarzenegger's include John Ramey, a Republican and member of former Gov. George Deukmejian's administration. Ramey served as a consultant to the California Chamber of Commerce in its campaign against Proposition 72, which called for voters to decide whether to establish a health-care system heavily financed by employers.
Another member is Herb Schultz, an expert in HMO issues who served in the Davis administration and who helped write the legislation that voters rejected at the polls in Proposition 72.
The fourth member is Ruth Liu, a former analyst at Kaiser Permanente who now serves as a health-policy expert in the Schwarzenegger administration.
John Howard is Managing Editor of Capitol Weekly
Grow up, people. Your kneejerk and ignorant response to news items like this is embarrassing.
pfffttttt
rose colored glasses never suited me
Some confusion here I'd say.
It is accurate to say that Arnold has:
1) Never been a conservative.
2) Never been a fiscal conservative
3) Never been a social conservative
4) Always supported California's economic engine
5) Always believed in the role of a strong central government
6) Always believed that a powerful, central government is necessary
7) Always believed that local government is subservient to a central government
All those statements are accurate but to contend that Arnold is not a Republican is false. Arnold is a registered Republican and his actions define the Republican Party in California.
That Arnold does not reflect the values of an average Republican in California is also accurate. But in this case, the California Republican Party has left its base, traditions and principles in the wings to achieve victory, rather than the reciprocal.
The spirit of the old Republican Party is still alive and well in the base and the state legislators they elect. It is however, stone cold dead, in the new CaGOP leadership and the Central Committees which support them.
Yes, Arnold is a Republican but it's not your father's party anymore.
Why, thank you for your opinion. /s
You know, you can alter the size of photos.
Now I'll have to wait for a days worth of pings to rid "my comments" window of this oversized monstrosity and be able to view the "sidebar."
Has the My2Cents account even bothered to do a cursory background check of the group. It been around for over 30 years and has a well know track record.
Non-descript indeed. Sort of like saying that B'nai B'rith is a non-descript organization. The appearance of non-English words in the group's moniker might have been the first hint of an agenda.
Sidescrolling is a real pain.
The other option is to use the Opera browser over the next few days which will automatically resize the image to fit your monitor.
It was founded by MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund). Enough said.
I can live with it... I only mentioned it as a learning experience for anyone reading.
It's obnoxious, but I guess I can just post more to purge it from my browser window.
I've tried other browsers, but always find something that isn't compatible (e.g. virus protection, etc.). I have little tolerance for doing the whole set-up process again.
I saw a couple of small Arnoid yard signs today. They were hard to see because of the camouflage colors of Pea Soup Green and brown...
But ... if you run Linux you can have:
1) 4 separate desktops typically standard
2) A different browser on every desktop (including IE6/7).
3) Little need for virus protection, even for the virtual, M$ desktop.
4) Some economic relief since most Linux distributions and VMware Server are free and the virtual XP machine does not need to be based on a authentic copy of Windoz.
My utter contempt for the CAGOP is growing by leaps and bounds!!!
Tinkering is not my specialty.
You have any suggestions why I can't get this video to play?
It keeps telling me I don't have Flash player, but I do. :-(
http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_278135154.html
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Participate! Attend the local Central Committe meeting and raise hell.
Participate! Vote regularly but not for Republican candidates which have turned to the dark side.
Participate! Raise your public voice in public places.
Assertively express your personal displease with the current trend in the CAGOP. Illustrate your displeasure with real circumstances that effect you personally. Urge your fellow Republicans to financially support the candidate of their choice but not the CAGOP.
Absolutely! That is the nature of a political party.
What is frustrating is the common confusion between wining and victory among some California Republican partisans.
From their perspective, the two terms are synonymous.
If you are using a stand alone Flash Player from Adobe as the default player under IE 6/7, make sure you have the latest version installed on your computer. Upgrading is usually automatic if directed. Open up Adobe Flash Player along the Start >> All Programs >> Adobe >> Flash path and look in its top menu bar for "update" and then follow the instructions.
If your default, streaming video player is the Windows Media Player, just figure that Poochigian and Gates don't agree politically and Bill won't let Chuck advertise on M$. OR ... check that you have the latest version of Media Player (10) and that the active X controls on your IE browser are, well, activated.
Thanks! I finally got it to work. I had to download some new 'uninstaller' and then reinstall while letting absolutely everything run (active x, pop-ups, etc). I finally got the new version 9 to download and the videos show up in the main window.
I think it's a Gates/CBS conspiracy that wouldn't let one of the other video players work--it had to be Flash.
Like I said... I have little patience for tinkering! LOL.
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