Sudden health-care changes unlikely in California
Given all Barack Obama said about change during the presidential race, he might be expected to quickly revamp America’s health-care system, which virtually everyone calls a mess.
Local people who have pushed for health-care reform say, however, they don’t expect major changes in a hurry. But they do foresee the new president attending to the issue.
Tatiana Fassieux, manager of the Chico-based Health Improvement Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP), which advises Medicare beneficiaries on their California health care coverage, recalled attending a conference last year where the next president spoke.
“Obama did talk about the benefits of a single-payer system,” she said. However, with the nation’s economic problems taking center stage, “I don’t see any changes happening immediately,” she added.
In a single-payer system, competition among insurance companies is eliminated, and one agency is put in charge of administering health coverage and paying providers.
For years, a local group, the Butte County Healthcare Coalition, has promoted a single-payer system for California and the nation. Several of its members told the Enterprise-Record they expect incremental changes from Obama. That doesn’t thrill them because they believe single payer is the only real fix for what ails America’s health-care system.
“We do think President Obama will do more than has been done so far,” said Jeanne Ertle of Chico. She is a member of the local coalition and also vice-chairwoman of a statewide group, Health Care for All — California, which promotes single payer.
The term “universal health care” can have different meanings, she said. To some people, it just means everyone has health insurance of some sort. What it should mean, she said, is that everyone has access to the care they need. She’s convinced single-payer is the only way to achieve that, she said.
Norma Wilcox, treasurer of the local coalition, said she’s read Obama’s health-care plan, which she described as “cautious.” He proposed requiring parents to buy health care coverage for their children and said he hoped to cover two-thirds of those who now have no insurance.
“I think he’s open to input and is testing the waters,” Wilcox said.
Congressman Wally Herger, R-Chico, said in a phone interview from Washington that single payer has gotten lots of discussion in the House but that no plan has materialized.
Click here for your free California health care quote now!
Click here for your free California dental care quote now!
Related posts:
- Why is single-payer health reform not viable? When it comes to health care reform in America, there is a relatively simple solution that will cover everyone's basic health care, control costs and save businesses, most people and the country a lot of money....
- California Children at Risk of Losing Health Insurance Coverage Thousands of California children could lose health insurance coverage in the coming months as a result of changes in Medi-Cal rules and decreased funding for local efforts that have provided coverage to children, the Los Angeles Times reports. Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program. State lawmakers will require parents of children enrolled in Medi-Cal to renew [...]...
- California Governor Signs Health Care Protection Bill California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 1150 by Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) which bans health insurance companies from rewarding their employees for canceling or limiting a patient’s health insurance. While the Governor signed AB 1150 because of the urgent need to protect consumers from unfair health care rescissions, he continues to believe that health care [...]...
- California Offers Lessons on Insurance Exchanges As Congress debates creating insurance “exchanges” as part of a health-care overhaul, the failure of a similar effort in California may offer important insights, former participants in the program say. From 1993 to 2006, small businesses in California could buy health insurance through an exchange run initially by the government, and later by a nonprofit [...]...
- California farmers and ranchers are struggling with health care bills California’s farmers and ranchers are struggling with health care bills that, in some instances, threaten the viability of their family businesses, according to a report Wednesday by the Access Project and funded by the California Endowment. The report finds that while almost all farm and ranch operators have health insurance, one in five says that [...]...