Note: The following is a response, written by Jeanine Meyer Rodriguez of SEIU’s California State Council, to Sen. Shiela Kuehl’s 7th essay on healthcare reform posted on the California Progress Report titled “The Speaker’s and Governor’s Healthcare Bill: Part of a Series of Essays by Sheila Kuehl.” I work for It’s Our Healthcare, which is a coalition that includes SEIU. However this response should not be taken to be representative of any other member of the IOH coalition or the coalition as a whole. This is SEIU’s position.
Senator Kuehl’s essay is full of criticism but makes no mention of a politically viable solution. Single payer is not going to happen just because it is good policy: we need a strategy for winning. But single payer can evolve if we start with the right framework and keep working on it. In the meantime, millions of people without adequate health insurance go without care when they are sick and some die because of it.
Medicare and Social Security are not perfect programs but they are better today than when they were created. AB1x is not a perfect bill but it is far better than the status quo today-and we can make it even better over time.
On the substance, there are lots of problems with how the Senator characterizes the bill. I’d like to highlight just a couple of the main points.
[More on the flip]
“Provisions of the bill actually harmful to regular, working and middle-class families…”
* The status quo is harmful to regular, working and middle-class families as our healthcare rapidly deteriorates. There are protections in the bill to ensure that the mandate is not “harmful” to working and middle-class families.
* For the first time ever sets a standard for health benefits on the job: today employers can and do drop coverage. Just as the minimum wage sets a standard for wages that helps working families, so will setting a standard for health benefits on the job.
“nothing is provided.”
* Public program coverage is provided to millions of Californians, including 800,000 children and over 2 million adults. Many others would be provided subsidies to get coverage.
“no regulation of the cost of insurance or medical expense, no maximum deductibles, and no floor on how little coverage you can buy…”
* An estimated 3-4 million people would get coverage through a statewide purchasing pool-twice the size of CALPERS–which would be able to negotiate for the best possible price.
* Now, for the first time, this bill gives a state regulator authority to set maximum deductibles and a floor on benefits that insurers can’t go below. Junk coverage is sold right now and hundreds of thousands of people find only when it is too late that they bought junk.
The Senator’s comments about SEIU are offensive and just plain wrong. We have been focused on healthcare reform for many years now and have been working hard to make real progress. SEIU’s change in leadership of the State Council did not change our position on healthcare reform. If we are salivating at anything, it is at the prospect of getting health coverage for 70%-80% of the uninsured.
SEIU locals in California have remained united all year in support of our principles for healthcare reform and we continue to stand together. We are fighting for our members’ interests and for their families too. Our families want what all Californians want–affordable, real healthcare when we need it.
It’s time to come together to make something work because the status quo is not acceptable and we can’t afford to wait any longer.