Posted on 11/21/2006 8:26:46 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Health care is developing as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's major policy aim for 2007. Already, on Nov. 15, he called for halving the state's estimated 6 million uninsured residents to "show the rest of the nation that it can be done." The governor has not announced details, but the Nov. 19 Los Angeles Times reported that his plans "are still being formulated by a special team of advisers."
This could mean that health care will be a central theme in his State of the State address in January, which he has used to unveil new efforts – such as his 2005 reform plan that led to the disastrous special election that November, and his 2006 compromise agenda with the Democratic Legislature that featured the infrastructure bond package. So that forum seems the likely place where he will unveil his proposals.
Having vetoed state Sen. Sheila Kuehl's legislation this year for socialized medicine – which would have imposed mandatory government health insurance on everybody – we expect the governor won't go in that direction. But he might go for a scheme such as that in Massachusetts, where Republican Gov. Mitt Romney signed legislation from a heavily Democratic Legislature that mandates that residents acquire medical insurance and charges a fee – a tax, really – on companies that don't offer insurance, with the proceeds of that fee used to provide coverage.
Instead, we hope Gov. Schwarzenegger looks to his late mentor, Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman, and works to expand insurance coverage by making it easier for Californians to be "free to choose." ...
Indeed, one of our favorite sayings of Mr. Friedman is that, whenever something goes wrong, people first should look to see if the cause is some bad government policy that can be corrected.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
I really hope the People's Republic of Kalifornia pulls the universal health care stunt. 5th largest economy in the world right?
Let it fail miserably and socialism stamped out for good.
Let no dollar remain unspent!
Bookmark.
Well, we can hope. But if you don't have your insurance put together now, don't wait any longer or your choices will be made in Congress.
Will there be enough illegals to pay for my free healthcare when I retire here in CA?
Oh, Joy. Massachusetts socialism is certainly what we need to achieve the "California Dream." /s
"Already, on Nov.15, he called for halving the state's estimated 6 million uninsured residents."...Would that be legal or illegal residents?
His plans "are still being formulated by a special team of advisers."...Translated: The Dim's are searching for the means of passing on the cost of this "plan" to middle-class Californians.
"Already, on Nov.15, he called for halving the state's estimated 6 million uninsured residents."...Would that be legal or illegal residents?
His plans "are still being formulated by a special team of advisers."...Translated: The Dim's are searching for the means of passing on the cost of this "plan" to middle-class Californians.
The six million figure includes both. About 1.5 are illegals, somewhere near another million are eligible for government programs, but haven't signed up, and there's a sizable group earning over 50k who don't choose to buy insurance. The actual number of legal California residents who do not have the wherewithal to purchase health insurance is slightly over a million....
The six million figure's all hype, as is the claim that medical bills cause half of all bankruptcies, the other mantra of the socialized medicine lobby.
Sorry... make that 'about half are illegals'.
I've seen that last study. They claim alcoholism and excessive gambling are medical "bankruptcies".
And tobacco addiction too.
The are people who should consider Health Savings Accounts (HSA's).
As part of that gigantic Medicare bill President Bush signed in his first term, these accounts allow people under age 65, with qualifying high deductible health insurance plans (HDHP's), to set aside pre-tax money from their income. This money can be saved for tax-deferred retirement, like any other pre-tax retirement account, or the money can be withdrawn tax-free and penalty-free for medical expenses at any time.
The tax benefits of HSA's were designed to encourage people to buy affordable high-deductible health insurance -- especially healthy young people who don't really need regular health insurance and who pay income taxes -- and also to save enough money in a personal account to cover the deductible in case of a serious medical problem. The full amount of one's annual HSA contribution can be deducted from income before the AGI is calculated, so this deduction is immune from the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
However, HSA's are not as abundantly available as IRA's at banks or for investing, and many banks charge fees simply to open or maintain HSA's. The contribution and deduction are limited by the smaller of the HDHP deductible or an inflation-adjusted maximum dollar amount; in 2006, $2700 is the maximum HSA contribution limit for a single person under age 55 in 2006, compared to $4000 for an IRA for the same person (with income below the phase-out threshold for Roth IRA's), significantly fewer people qualify for HSA's than for IRA's. Tax reporting is also more complicated, since many states do not conform to federal law on HSA's, whereas most or all states conform to federal law on IRA's. So, banks and brokerages are less interested in offering HSA's.
California does not conform to federal tax rules on HSA's. Therefore, HSA contributions are only deductible from one's income for 1040 (IRS) federal returns, but not for one's 540 (CA FTB) state return. Maybe Gov. Schwarzenegger could encourage more Californians to buy insurance by raising awareness of HSA's and by removing the CA tax penalty for keeping a HSA.
I hope the Gov reads this! I haven't heard him mention Milton Friedman (other than maybe a few mandatory comments after Friedman's recent passing) or extoll Friedman's ideas for limited government, economic freedom, or personal liberties since the recall election in 2003.
At the rate the CA government is growing, faster than under Gray Davis while not even including all the scores of billions of dollars in bonds Gov Schwarzenegger promoted, Arnold seems to have forgotten completely about Friedman's theories for government.
No. But you could mortgage your grandchildren.
Yep, that's the one.
They also fail to note the correlation between bankruptcies and unpaid cell phone, electric, and cable bills, which proves that bankruptcy is actually caused by those mean utility companies.
Here's a good (free) recent LA Times article on how employers are finding ways to save money on health insurance. HSA's are prominently mentioned, with the prediction that their use will triple in the near future.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-health20nov20,1,4786397.story?coll=la-headlines-business
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