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Senator Kuehl Criticizes Governor's Planned Veto of Universal Healthcare
For Immediate Release
09/05/2006
Contact: Sara Rogers (916) 651-4023
Senator Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) today criticized Governor Schwarzenegger for his quick announcement that he plans to veto SB 840, which creates a universal health insurance system for all Californians.
“The Governor’s erroneous statements on SB 840 were to be expected after his refusal to meet even once with me for an explanation of what the bill would actually do for California,” said Kuehl.
Among the many misconceptions contained in the Governor’s statement, according to Kuehl:
“The Governor errs in using the insurance industry’s ‘government run healthcare’ label for the bill. In truth, all providers of healthcare would have remained as they now are, public or private, under the bill. The big difference is that every person would have been able to select their own physician, dentist, hospital, or pharmacy, and there would have been no unreimbursed care. Doctors would have done a great deal better under this bill than they do now under the thumb of insurance companies.”
Regarding the Governor’s critique of the cost, Kuehl said, “The Governor makes an even bigger mistake in saying the bill would cost new money or there would be new taxes and no help to affordability. Such a statement shows that he has not read the bill, doesn’t understand the bill, or is being completely misdirected by his handlers. In truth, premiums to be paid by businesses and individuals under SB 840 would have taken the place of all premiums, co-pays and deductibles we now pay, saving every person who now pays for healthcare significant money. In addition, where there are no cost controls at all now, and enormous administrative overhead and profit for insurance companies, there would have been a transparent system that actually would succeed in making healthcare coverage affordable in California”
Perhaps the most significant error the Governor makes is in his failure to recognize that SB 840 is exactly what he purports to be seeking. In his own words: “I want to see a new paradigm that addresses affordability, shared responsibility and the promotion of healthy living.” He has proposed no plan, and nothing has come out of his “health summit” that proposes anything to accomplish these goals. Only SB 840, which does exactly what he alleges to support, accomplishes this.
Finally, says Kuehl, by trying to distract readers of his veto messages with the fact that he supported a few small steps toward healthy living, the Governor reveals his real agenda: leave healthcare in the hands of private insurance companies and let working families lose coverage one family at a time, let hospitals close for non-payment of bills one at a time. In his own words, spoken only a few weeks ago “I don’t believe in universal healthcare.”
“With his statement that he plans to veto SB 840,” says Kuehl, “we see the real Arnold.”