Episode Eight: The Healthy California Act or SB 562

California District One Media

In District One, one in seven people depend on Obamacare for their healthcare and nearly one third have pre-existing conditions now protected. In Washington, thirteen republicans are working behind closed doors fast tracking a modified version of the disastrous Trumpcare bill, that will strip healthcare away from twenty-three million Americans. But here in California, a statewide movement for a single payer healthcare system has emerged. And it’s the most fiscally responsible way to provide equitable coverage to all Californians. It’s called the Healthy California Act, or SB 562. And it’s got momentum. The bill has passed the State Senate and is now in front of the State Assembly. Most of us understand that the single payer system (like Medicare) is not a government run program (like the VA). It’s a method of paying for medical care. With Single-Payer, insurance company profits are removed from equation, leaving decisions on healthcare to patients and their doctors. It creates a trust fund for all healthcare funding, with a governing board of representatives from all stakeholders to pay the bills. Doctors would no longer need billing experts, or have to argue with insurance bureaucrats about getting paid. Under Single Payer, everyone is in one plan, patients, doctors, and hospitals. One network that includes everyone, giving the patients greater choices, not fewer. State Senator, Ted Gaines, voted against the bill, saying, “"California's boondoggle of a healthcare bill needs to be stopped" and “How will we pay for it?” - But Gaines’ “Sky is Falling” hyperbole ignores the fact that Californian’s already spend $385 billion a year on healthcare. And a suggested 2.3 percent sales tax increase on non-essential items, which includes safeguards for the poor and small businesses, is easily balanced by no longer needing to pay monthly insurance payments, co-pays, or high deductibles. And because there is no profit motive for the monies paid into the healthcare fund, Californian’s will have access to more services like, dental, vision, chiropractic, acupuncture, mental health and more. While Ted Gaines fights to protect insurance company CEO’s bottom lines, lobbyists are spending millions to defeat the act through lobbying, social media campaigns and ad buys. Gaines alone has received a quarter of a million dollars in campaign contributions from the Health Insurance sector. Corporate interests and politicians aside, citizen lobbyists are campaigning in record numbers in support of Single Payer, through phone, email, and public rallies in Sacramento. Remember your vote is your voice. Be heard. Be sure to register and vote in 2018.