Urgent! Legislative Coordinators: Affordable Healthcare Bill Needs Your Help Right Now.
Your help is needed to move a crucial CTA-cosponsored measure that will provide comprehensive and affordable healthcare coverage to more than 6.5 million Californians who can’t currently afford it, including school-aged children.
The CTA cosponsored single-payer healthcare measure is by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica). Sen. Kuehl has given the bill the same number – SB 840 – as a healthcare bill she authored last year that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed. SB 840 is slated for a hearing in the Senate Health Committee on April 18th.
Sending the bill to Gov. Schwarzenegger with two-thirds’ majorities in the state Senate and Assembly may convince him not to veto the bill this time. A two-thirds’ majority is needed in each house to overturn a veto.
Your action is needed immediately to gain votes for the bill in the Senate. But CTA is also asking you to contact your Assembly Members, too. Ask both Senators and Assembly Members to sign onto the bill as co-authors.
Background:
SB 840 is again this year the California Health Insurance Reliability Act (CHIRA). It will cover all Californians 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 coverage. 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 healthcare spending goes to cover the costs of clinical and administrative waste. SB 840 will help end this inefficient use of healthcare 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 the CHIRA, every Californian will be covered by an insurance plan that provides medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage, including hospitalization, emergency room care and transportation, laboratory work, skilled nursing care, mental health care, drug addiction rehabilitation, and chiropractic care.
CHIRA would bring changes that would mark a major improvement over the current situation, where more than one in five state residents has no healthcare coverage at all. As of 2003, 20% of Californians had no coverage, and skyrocketing costs were leading more employers to scale back healthcare coverage or drop healthcare plans completely.
This year’s version of SB 840 is a policy measure that sets up the new system without including any needed funding. Sen. Kuehl is also the author of a CTA-supported companion bill, SB 1014, which discusses funding for the new plan. SB 1014 includes dollars now spent by public agencies for healthcare coverage; premiums, co-pays and deductibles all employers now send to insurance companies; and new funds, including taxes on the state’s wealthiest taxpayers.
Coordinators:
Mobilize CTA members and other education supporters to contact all State Senators and Assembly Members and the governor in support of SB 840 (Kuehl). The link below will take you to the Legislative Action Center, where you can send e-mails directly to these officials.
Contact your local lawmaker
For more information, contact CTA Legislative Advocates Bill Collins and Estelle Lemieux or GR Communications Consultant Len Feldman at 916.325.1500.