The State of SB 840

As many of you know, SB 840 is the senate bill that aims to create a single-payer universal health care system here in California. It is a bill that relies on the fundamental idea that health care is a universal human right, an idea, that even amongst health care professionals, is not universally accepted.

Here are some of the benefits of SB 840 (copied directly from the website:http://www.onecarenow.org/sb840.htm which represents supporter of SB 840)

1) Security - All California residents are covered for life.

2) Choice - Everyone has the freedom to choose their doctor or integrated health system such as Kaiser. Delivery of care will continue as now to be private and public.

3) Comprehensive Benefits - Coverage includes all care prescribed by a patient's health care provider that meets accepted standards of care and practice. Coverage includes hospital, medical, surgical, mental health; dental and vision care; prescription drugs and medical equipments, diagnostic testing, hospice care and more.

4) High Quality - The bill utilizes proven financial incentives that support the delivery of high quality care, including bonuses for providers working in rural or under-served areas. The plan invests in needed health care infrastructure such as electronic claims and reimbursement systems and statewide medical databases that improve health care quality.

5) Efficient Administration - Consolidating the hundreds of insurance plans, both private and public, into one comprehensive insurance plan saves the state, patients and providers billions of dollars each year.

6) Shared Responsibility - Payment of an affordable premium by employers, employees and individuals supports the health care system we all need at some time.

7) Fair Reimbursement - Providers receive fair and full compensation for all their services.

8) Cost Controls - Health care costs are controlled by efficient administration, bulk purchase of drugs and durable medical equipment, global health care budgets, coordination of capital expenditures, and linkage to growth of the State Gross Domestic Product.


If you went to the event that Anne helped organize a couple weeks ago, you also know that this bill has passed both houses of the CA legislature twice, only to be vetoed by the governor.
The governor has created an alternative proposal which was not approved by the legislature, this link compares and contrasts his proposal to SB 840

http://www.onecarenow.org/healthcarereformplancompare.htm

Please recognize this is from a group lobbying for SB 840, so of course there are some inherent biases, that being said, I still think its worth looking over.

For a definition of single-payer health care - here is a handy wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-payer_health_care

SB 840 will probably be reintroduced in the CA legislature in Feb 2009, where if it passes again (as it likely will), the governor will have another chance to approve it. If you are in support of Universal health care coverage in CA, you may want to consider signing a petition online: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1308/signUp.jsp?key=1142&t=DefaultTemplate.dwt, or sending a letter to the governor. There is also a lobby day in Sacramento slated for the 11-12 of January (I think).

If you support Universal Health Care nationally, it will likely need to be proven at the state-wide level before it goes national. And what better place than California to break this important ground?!