Schwarzenegger kills health care bill

On Sept. 22, Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation that would have provided secure, affordable and accessible health care to all Californians.

Supported by CSEA, SB 840 (Kuehl) was passed by both houses of the state legislature and sent to the governor to enact. Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill instead. The landmark legislation would have allowed patients to retain their current doctors while replacing the current maze of public and private health plans with a single, efficient claims reimbursement system. Analysts projected the new system to reduce current administrative costs by 25 percent, freeing up billions of new dollars for patient care and prescription drugs.

“It is a mistake for the Governor to reject the only concrete plan now on the table to reform health care coverage,” said Senator Sheila Kuehl who authored the bill. “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.”

Veto impacts school employees
More than 100,000 California school employees don’t receive any health insurance from their school districts, and they are caught in a bind. Because they work they can’t qualify for state and federal health care programs such as MediCal, and yet they don’t earn enough to be able to afford an individual health insurance policy.

Citing the lack of health insurance for school employees and for about 800,000 California children, CSEA President Rob Feckner said the governor doesn’t understand how desperate the situation is becoming.

“Workers and their children have to go without quality health care because so many employers don’t provide it, and this governor has done nothing substantial to address this growing crisis,” Feckner said.

Phil Angelides is challenging Schwarzenegger in the Nov. 7 gubernatorial election. Angelides has been a strong advocate for improving health care. Learn about the two candidates and where they stand on health care and other important issues.