Len Feldman
With the support of CTA and a coalition of public service-oriented groups, the Legislature has approved a bill that would provide comprehensive and affordable health care to all Californians — including the state’s 6 million adults and 800,000 children who have no coverage now. SB 840 by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) is awaiting the governor’s signature.
“This bill is a solution to our health care crisis that makes sense, saves billions of dollars, and ends many of the hardships suffered by families who can’t afford any coverage,” says CTA President Barbara E. Kerr. “The governor should put an end to these hardships by signing this bill. Like all working people, teachers, parents and their children in our school communities deserve a fair health care system that provides for all.”
The California Health Insurance Reliability Act (CHIRA) 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 cost of health care for families, individuals, private businesses, and public entities — including public schools.
Under CHIRA, every Californian will be covered by an insurance plan that provides medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage, including hospitalization, emer- gency room care and transportation, laboratory work, skilled nursing care, mental health care, drug addiction rehabilitation, and chiropractic care.
During a news conference, Sen. Kuehl told reporters that SB 840 “is not a government run health program.” It would allow participants to choose their physicians and hospitals, something many current health care plans do not allow.
Good health care is an education issue, says Assembly Education Committee Chair Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles), speaking on behalf of the bill. Illness and poverty are the root causes of student absenteeism and poor academic performance. When students have no access to health care, they go to school sick and infect other students, which leads to absenteeism and a reduction in academic performance.
Members of CTA and other supporting groups held two rallies — one at the state Capitol and another in the San Francisco Bay Area — on behalf of the health care proposal.
At the Sacramento rally, CTA Board member Don Bridge urged several hundred demonstrators to send the governor a simple message: “Sign the bill. Sick children can’t learn. That’s why health care is an education issue.”