SB 840, Senator Sheila Kuehl’s great single-payer healthcare bill for California, just passed again. Now it goes to the Governor’s desk and he’ll probably veto it like he did in 2006, but we should all call him anyway and ask him to sign it. 916-445-2841, between 9 and 5. I’ve written about this a lot, here, and more recently an OC Register article here, which led to an argument with Jubal and his rightie pals here. (And yes I still owe d’Anconia an essay on countries which have successfully achieved universal healthcare without “rationing,” he doesn’t believe there are any, let alone lots.)
Hey Governor! Don’t be the insurance companies’ Girly Man!
This is a long-term struggle, it probably won’t happen this year, but the more people are educated the less they’ll fall for insurance and pharmaceutical scare propaganda, and eventually we may win this as an initiative. SB 840 is better than Conyer’s national single-payer bill HR 676 because it allows doctors, hospitals, drug manufacturers etc. to still be private, competetive, profit-making entities. The only thing “socialized” about it is the insurance. And it’s been shown that with SB 840 we would save 8 billion a year insuring ALL Californians with high-quality comprehensive care – by eliminating the for-profit health insurance industry, bargaining down pharmaceutical prices with our state’s vast bulk purchasing power, and emphasis on preventive care. 2200 Californians die each year due to not being covered, and 200,000 Californians are driven into bankruptcy by their medical expenses – most of them having had insurance (but insufficient) when they got sick!
One other thing, the bill that Arnold will be signing does not have a funding component so it will technically cost nothing – it will just create a “blue-ribbon panel” to work out the best most equitable way of funding the system. So he really can’t use the current budget crisis (which won’t last forever) as an excuse.
Here’s the cool ad we’re putting in the Sacramento Bee:
I don’t know, the illustrated letters I mailed and faxed to Arnold every day from Sept 1, 2006 to Sept 18 when he vetoed it were better and funnier: http://www.vernnelson.com/HealthCal/Arnold01.html
Final instructions from my fearless leader Andrew McGuire:
California’s historic Senate Bill 840 legislation is NOW GOING to Governor Schwarzenegger’s desk. To get the governor’s attention and
to break thru the media clutter and noise, we are launching a OneCareNow Newspaper Ad Campaign, starting in Sacramento.
THANKS to your generous donations, we’ve scheduled a LARGER Ad in the Sacramento Bee on September 8. See the ad full size
1. CALL THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE, 9:00AM TO 5:00PM AT (916) 445 2841
2. EMAIL AND FAX THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
3. ATTEND THE SACRAMENTO COALITION RALLY SEPTEMBER 8.
4. SEND A LETTER TO YOUR LOCAL MEDIA
5. DONATE TO HELP US RUN MORE ADS – IN NEWSPAPERS AND ONLINE.
6. TELL A FRIEND TO GET ON BOARD
NOW IS THE TIME TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THE GOVERNOR and help us crack the virtual media embargo on SB 840, “single payer” and our historic grass roots movement.
Thanks so much.
Andrew McGuire
Executive Director, Health Care for All–California
This is a great first step to dealing with this crisis and we need to urge the Governor to sign the bill. It costs nothing and puts us on track with the rest of the nation in finding a solution to this problem. We can’t continue to allow 200,000 people to lose everything they have ever worked for due to huge medical bills. We can’t continue to have over 2 thousand people die because they lacked sufficient medical treatments that were available if they had medical coverage.
The fact is that our businesses are competing on a global level with countries where the business doesn’t have the expense of health insurance and can no longer afford to be the nations point of access to medical care. This might have been a good incentive during previous decades but the playing field has changed and we need to change with it.
As McCain said “We are our brother’s keeper.” Lets do it in the smartest, most cost effective way. Lets get started its not going to happen overnight but if the Governor signs the bill we can find the will to make it happen.
Dont forget that the Government spends a huge amount on health insurance each month that would be saved in a single payor system. Those kind of savings would wipe out the State’s budget problem and go a long way towards eliminating the Federal deficit.
Wasn’t MacSame essentially quoting that line… just a question. I guess citations are wiki bait now, huh?
whassat rintrah… did mccain actually say “this is our future, our kids future?” It just came into my head. And I think I did see most of his speech. Oh, this is worrisome, if i’m subconciously channeling old Gramps.
our kids future debts perhaps!
Who did the photoshop? I almost didn’t recognize him behind the 10 pounds of blush.
Lipstick on a pig, indeed!
SMS