Health Care for All

I believe that good health is essential for all life and that access to affordable, quality health care is a fundamental human right. We spend over $2 trillion for health care in the United States, yet nearly 50 million people are still not covered and another 50 million are denied adequate care by their insurance companies. Health care is a human right, yet the World Health Organization ranks the United States 37th in the world in health care, in spite of the fact that we spend nearly twice as much as any other country, enough to cover everybody with excellent comprehensive health care. We rank 6th of the 6 major industrialized nations for health care. I believe we need to work toward:

1. UNIVERSAL COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH CARE COVERAGE: Ensure access to quality health care and coverage at affordable costs for all Californians. Is is essential that the provision for Quality Universal Healthcare provide coverage for all members of our community. Coverage should include the most vulnerable (those who are least informed) and encourage them to participate in public policy. This includes children and students, very low, low and moderate wage employees, people seeking employment, people with "pre-existing conditions," the homeless, and those with special disabilities, rare diagnoses and chronic illnesses. This quality healthcare should also be comprehensive, including medical, dental, vision, mental health and prescription services.

2. INSURER OVERSIGHT: Establish oversight including stronger rules regulating insurers to elevate standards for coverage that preserve and increase consumer protections for all Californians.

3. LARGE PURCHASING POOLS FOR ALL that allow consumers to share risk, as opposed to efforts to shift risk and place financial burdens and barriers on individual consumers and families.

4. SINGLE PAYER INSURANCE SYSTEM: Work towards the development of a non-profit single payer system, which dramatically cuts administrative waste for both providers and patients alike.

5. PRESERVATION OF OUR SAFETY NETS: including community and public health clinics, mental health and dental clinics, and public hospitals on which we all rely, especially people who are left out of the system and without coverage.

6. SUPPORT FOR BOTH THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING of the population, including an emphasis on preservation of health and prevention of illness.

7. COST CONTAINMENT: Support cost containment focused on prevention, safety, efficiency, transparency, and group purchasing so that consumers pay less and get more.

8. DIVERSITY AND EQUITY: Meet the specific needs of the full diversity of California, toward equity and access for all. Any health care system should include language accessibility and address cultural diversity.

STRATEGIC STEPS: Given that the existing private, for profit health care insurance system has failed to satisfy these principles, and since other systems in other countries are providing a broader coverage at lower cost and have better indices of population health care, the benefit of their experience should be incorporated into our any future reforms. Urgent reform should be undertaken toward the goal of a comprehensive, universal health system, like Medicare for All.

I was an original supporter of SB840 and believe that this type of system is really the only way to ensure that Health Care is a RIGHT and not a privilege.