By Len Feldman
With more than 6 million Californians — many of them children — either without health care coverage at all or with insufficient coverage, CTA is continuing to advocate for the passage of state legislation that would implement a single-payer universal health care plan.
A key CTA-cosponsored measure, SB 840 by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), is still alive, but stalled in the Legislature. It would, among other things, create a statewide agency to extend health, dental and vision care to all Californians.
SB 840 could be acted upon later this legislative year, but backers point out that winning passage involves overcoming a number of challenges. The bill needs to secure a two-thirds majority of votes in both houses — including lawmakers willing to override the governor’s promised veto. It also needs an appropriations bill to underwrite its provisions; that too would need a two-thirds majority in both houses.
Until recently, most lawmakers were focusing their attention on ABx1 1, the health care reform proposal incorporating proposals from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and sponsored by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles). It would have mandated coverage for all Californians, but forced many of them to enroll in insurance programs they could ill afford.
During a special legislative session on health care in January, ABx1 1 failed to get the needed votes in a key Senate Committee.
Following the measure’s defeat, Schwarzenegger declared he would continue his negotiations in hope of reviving the measure or moving a similar one. A complication in the current year is the looming budget shortfall.
“We are absolutely resolute in our belief that each and every Californian should have affordable health care, with the bulk of the costs borne by employers,” insists CTA President David A. Sanchez. “We will not rest until we have achieved that goal, no matter how long it takes.”