Universal health care off to a good start in California.

In my email today, there was this good news.



I tried to put this in the Health Forum but couldn't access it so I hope GD forgives me but the news was too good to not post about it.

DUers who are interested and if it sinks to fast they won't see it.

:kick:

I like the flyer! :-)

Senate Bill 840 (Kuehl) means real health care benefits.
Not just junk insurance, but full care for all, for life, for less.

STOP HEALTH CARE COST & NIGHTMARES
Control Rx Costs NOW
END for-profit insurance waste
patient care NOT paper work

Please sign the SB 840 Petition at www.onecarenow.org.

Then find your city listing and call the local director of your “Community Action Team” to get involved. Teams in more than 365 California cities are conducting grassroots educational and public awareness “action” events — one event per day, in a different city, for one year — to demand passage of this landmark legislation. Here’s how SB 840 universal health nsurance will transform our wasteful, costly and unjust health care system:

Step 1. Establish one non-profit insurance plan to reduce administrative costs. Single insurer systems cut administrative costs. Four independent studies show that simplifying health care
administration can lower costs by 25%–30% and save California as much as $20 billion a year.*
Single insurer systems use their purchasing power to cut prescription drug and medical equipment costs. This can save California as much as $5 billion a year. Medicare uses a single insurance plan and keeps administrative costs under 5%. Veteran’s Administration uses one to cover veterans. Kaiser uses one to cover its members. SB 840 costs are also projected at under 5%.

Step 2. Provide reliable, quality coverage for all Californians. For life. Under SB 840, you will choose your own doctor. You and your provider, not insurance agents, will decide your care. All needed services, drugs, hospital stays, therapies, and medical equipment will be covered. And every resident will be continuously covered for life. You don’t lose insurance if you lose your job, or change your job, or if you have a “pre-existing” condition.

Step 3. Create a health-focused — not profi based — administrative system. Nothing will change between you and your provider. But for the first time, California will have an independent
non-profit administrative team to oversee the system, manage costs and maintain quality. SB 840 will establish a non-partisan Commissioner of Health, a Health Policy Board and a network of consumer advocates, including community based “Partnerships for Health” to identify and help solve local service problems. Since all payments will be made by the California Health Trust Fund, all data from providers will be funneled to one place for maximum efficiency and fraud prevention.

Step 4. Improve the business climate by controlling health care costs. With SB 840, all California employers will pay an affordable health insurance premium based on their payroll, resulting in a
level playing field among competing businesses. And since all employees will also contribute their fair share to premiums, labor-management strife over health care should end. The Bottom Line: full care, for less. According to an independent Lewin Group study, for most California employers or individuals who now have private insurance, SB 840 will cost them less for comprehensive coverage.
With no deductibles or out of pocket costs to pay, California families could save from $300 to $3,000 per year* while businesses could save from $300 to $2,000 per employee. California could have a net savings of $8 billion in the first year of universal health care, up to $343 billion after 10 years and be the first state in the nation to truly control costs.

agrees not to veto these bills.

I seem to keep double posting.

:shrug:

:kick:

count - worth every dime you paid for it! :-)

:kick:

hurrah!