Opposition to California Healthcare Bill Grows

In a press release afterwards, Yee said the bill is “not a step in the right direction, but a huge jump backwards for California’s working families without insurance.”

Participants at the press conference included leaders of the Teamsters, United Food and Commercial Workers, Communication Workers of America, California School Employees Association, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Office and Professional Employees, California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, League of Women Voters, and the Gray Panthers. Among others opposing the bill are the Machinists and Engineers and Scientists unions, and California Church IMPACT, legislative arm of the California Council of Churches.

CNA/NNOC’s legislative director Donna Gerber called ABX1:1 “an insurance company bill, a bill that benefits insurance companies over everybody else. For the first time, Californians will be required to buy a product with no price limitations or no definitions of what they get for that price.”

Barry Broad, director of the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, agrees with Gerber: “All of the burden for increased costs will fall on individuals.” Broad also explained how the Franchise Tax Board could put a lien on consumers’ houses and garnish their wages to pay for insurance. “Forcing people to go into bankruptcy for something they can not afford is not universal healthcare.”

George Landers, executive director of the United Food and Commercial Workers Western State Council, said the bill would provide a disproportionate benefit for major employers “like Wal-Mart, who will not have to pay any more than they presently do, and allow thousands of their employees to receive state subsidies for their health care. The idea that you are going to allow the largest employers to get a tax break for health care is absolutely ridiculous.”

“This is a bad bill,” said Chuck Mack, President of Teamsters Joint Council 7. “Individuals will pay more and more and get less and less health care. We will do everything we can to stop it.”

Clyde Rivers, past president of CSEA, noted that for many of their school employee members the cost of health insurance already is “greater than their take home pay” and since ABX1:1 offers “nothing in cost containment” the bill provides no protections to reverse that development. Further, the legislature and governor will be able to say “they’ve taken care of the problem.”

Sen. Yee in the press conference cited the “struggle of the working poor” to meet their bills while “the state of California is saying you will have to pay for open ended healthcare costs. There is no way I am going to support” a bill that could “literally put people out on the street” or force them to choose between pay for their health care or their housing costs.