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Senator Kuehl's Statement on Schwarzenegger's Veto of Universal Health Care: Innacuracies of Veto Message Cited
By State Senator Sheila Kuehl
[Editor's Note: State Senator Sheila Kuehl issued this statement after Governor Schwarzenegger's veto of the bill she authored, SB 840. This measure would have insured every Californian with comprehensive healthcare benefits, guarantee the right of patients to choose their own doctors, reduce the cost of prescription drugs, and control healthcare costs.]
The reasoning behind the Governor’s opposition to universal health care is truly innacurate, which is no surprise considering he has refused to meet to discuss the issue. If the Governor took a thoughtful look at SB 840 he would see that delivery of health care would remain exactly as it now is, public or private. The main difference is that under SB 840 every Californian would have been able to choose their own doctors and hospitals and there would have been no unreimbursed care.
The Governor makes a huge mistake in saying the bill would cost new money or there would be new taxes and no help to affordability. Such a statement shows that he has not read the bill, doesn’t understand the bill, or is being completely misdirected by his handlers.
In truth, premiums to be paid by businesses and individuals under SB 840 would have taken the place of all premiums, co-pays and deductibles we now pay, saving every person who now pays for healthcare significant money. In addition, where there are no cost controls at all now, and enormous administrative overhead and profit for insurance companies, there would have been a transparent system that actually would succeed in making healthcare coverage affordable in California.
If the Governor took a closer look at SB 840 he would see that it embodies exactly the kind of system he purports to be seeking. In his own words: “I want to see a new paradigm that addresses affordability, shared responsibility and the promotion of healthy living.” Yet, after nearly three years in office, he has proposed no plan, and nothing has come out of his “health summit” that proposes anything to accomplish these goals.
It was a mistake for the Governor to reject the only concrete plan now on the table to reform healthcare coverage. In his statement, the Governor says that he cares about ‘affordability,’ but SB 840 would make healthcare coverage affordable, while preserving quality. SB 840 would have protected, by law, the right of consumers to choose their own doctor, making healthcare more competitive than ever.
Finally, by trying to distract readers of his veto messages with the fact that he supported a few small steps toward healthy living and minor expansions of coverage, the Governor reveals his real agenda: leave healthcare in the hands of private insurance companies and let working families lose coverage one family at a time, let them go bankrupt even when they have insurance, and let hospitals close one at a time.
To read the Govenor’s official veto message, click here.
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