Support Affordable Health Bill (SB 840)
A crucial, CTA-sponsored measure will provide comprehensive and affordable health care coverage to more than 6.5 million Californians who can’t currently afford it, including families with school-aged children. Your action is needed immediately to gain votes for the bill in the Assembly and Senate and to secure the governor’s signature on the measure.
SB 840, by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), is on its way to the Assembly floor, where it needs 41 votes to pass. With the Assembly’s approval, the bill will head back to the Senate for a “concurrence” vote on Assembly amendments. When the bill clears the state Senate, it will speed to the governor’s desk.
Background:
SB 840 is the California Health Insurance Reliability Act (CHIRA). It will establish universal heal care in California, providing every resident with comprehensive health insurance and give them the ability to choose their own physicians. The plan can save $8 billion in the first year alone by reducing the costs of healthcare. SB 840 will save money for families, individuals, private businesses, and public entities – including public schools.
A recent Boston University study found that as much as 50% of current health care spending goes to cover the costs of clinical and administrative waste. SB 840 will help end this inefficient use of health care dollars. School district dollars used by an inefficient health plan could be better utilized for other instructional purposes, including recruiting and retaining fully credentialed teachers.
Under SB 840, every Californian will be covered by an insurance plan that provides medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage. The coverage includes hospitalization, emergency room care and transportation, laboratory work, skilled nursing care, mental health care, drug addiction rehabilitation, and chiropractic care.
SB 840 will bring important protections to the more than one in five state residents who have no access to a health care plan.
As of 2003, 20% of Californians were going without health coverage. Since that time, skyrocketing costs have been leading more employers to scale back health care coverage or drop health care plans completely.
In its current amended form, the bill pays for the expanded health care coverage by using funds now spent by public agencies for health care. It also replaces the premiums, co-pays and deductibles all employers send to insurance companies with premiums paid into the new system.
The bill specifies that a blue-ribbon panel of health finance and technical experts will develop the premiums. SB 840 will redirect an estimated $20 billion into the new health program by streamlining the administrative functions of thousands of insurance companies. The state will shift an estimated additional $5.3 billion into direct health care by using California's huge purchasing power for pharmaceutical purchases. New preventive care will save another $3.4 billion.
Take Action:
CTA members and other education supporters should contact all state Senators, Assembly Members, and the governor in support of SB 840 (Kuehl).
Email your local lawmaker today.
For more information, contact CTA Legislative Advocate Sharon Scott Dow or GR Communications Consultant Len Feldman at 916.325.1500.
