California NOW

Take Action Today for Health Care!

On Wednesday, July 15, or thereabout, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is expected to offer an amendment to health care reform legislation that would permit states to establish their own single-payer (Medicare for all) type health care plans. In the Senate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is expected soon to introduce a similar amendment during mark-up session of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Support Single-Payer Health Care!

After taking action, please support our work!

Action Needed:

NOW activists should contact their Congress members, particularly those who are Democrats, and ask them to support this amendment. You can use our formatted message below or craft one of your own. But please do this right away!

Take action NOW!

Tell Senator Feinstein, Public Health Care Can't Wait!

Health care reform seems stalled, with a real risk that the "moderate" Senators holding up the process will show that their true loyalty is to their health care industry donors rather than to the American public, which overwhelmingly supports a public option.  The excuse for holding up a public option is cost, but banking industry bailouts and war spending far outweigh the costs for public health care, and a public option plan will save the country money in the long-run, through preventive care.

Unfortunately, California Senator Dianne Feinstein is one of those who is keeping the process stalled, and refusing to consider a public option.  With more women falling through the health care systems gaps, we can't afford to wait!

Contact Senator Feinstein and let her know that as a California voter, you will not settle for any health care plan that does not include a true public option.  Half-measures like the "trigger" option and health care co-ops are insufficient; public policy and health care experts agree with the public!

Contact Senator Feinstein today, and remind her that constituents' needs matter more than health care industry dollars! Senator Feinstein can be reached in her DC office at (202) 224-3841, her San Francisco office at (415) 393-0707, or her Los Angeles office at (310) 914-7300.  You can also email her.

Public Option vs. Single Payer Explained

Thanks to Shakesville and the Arizona League of Women Voters, here's a great explanation of the differences between Single Payer and Public Option health care plans. Click for larger image.

HIV Outbreak in California's Porn Industry

And to finish off our day of posts about women and the film industry, here's a link to a piece on Feministing about an HIV outbreak in California's porn industry, and the ways that the industry works against safety for the women and men involved in it.

Health Care Reform: Truth in Labeling

Wouldn't it be great to see truth in labeling laws for health care plans?

Health Care Reform Takes Center Stage in Congress

Ridiculously, the Senate health care reform draft being released today will not include any public coverage option. There have been serious lobbying efforts by insurance and medical companies, who are huge Congressional campaign contributors, working to end the public option.  By leaving the details of the plan to Congress, the President has run the risk of having the final policy substantially undercut his real goals.  Meanwhile, we allow companies to literally patent our genes, giving monopolies on things like testing and treatment of genetic diseases.  

Senator Ted Kennedy's plan is the most viable public option plan currently on the table, and would provide a basic level of care for all, although Bernie Sanders is the only Senator truly advocating for single-payer coverage.  119 million Americans are expected to choose a public option if it becomes available, which ironically is being used as a reason why it can't be allowed.  Here's a great summary from Balkanization on why a public option is so very necessary.  The main Republican health care proposal is controversial in that it maintains the status quo in many ways, gives families a tax break for health care services that is inadequate to cover costs, taxes employer-provided health care benefits, and does little to help ensure coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.

Any health care plan needs to take into account the out of pocket expenses that often lead to bankruptcy even for those with medical coverage. Solutions must include making health care economically viable not only for government and insurers and providers, but for middle class enrollees.  When 62% of bankruptcy cases are caused by medical bills and most of these families had health coverage, this is an issue that we can't afford to delay solving if we want the economy to improve.

Monday's Action Checklist: Health Care for California's Children!

Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed eliminating healthcare coverage for approximately 225,000 children who receive healthcare through the state's Healthy Families Program. 

This is supposed to help balance the California budget, but we'll lose two dollars of federal money for every one we save from state funds. That means the cut is actually three times larger than the Governor is admitting. 

Providing health care coverage to kids is a smart use of money, because it prevents higher spending later on, and helps kids do better in school as well. Enrollment in Healthy Families is at an all-time high; more than 300,000 children in California have lost employer-based coverage since November 2007. 

Cutting healthcare coverage for kids will harm both children and our state's fiscal bottom line. Don't forget to contact the Governor and your state legislators today. 

Thanks to our friends at MomsRising for this alert link!

Health Care For All

In honor of National Women's Health Week, here are some things you can do to help reform our health care system:

The for-profit health industry promised President Obama to cut costs by 1.5%, but it's only a voluntary agreement. Reducing costs is just one piece of the puzzle. We need to regulate insurance company practices if we are going to get the quality, affordable health care we need.

For-profit insurers will always put profits first - ahead of Obama's cost-saving goals and ahead of our health care needs, even our lives. The only serious way to reduce health care costs is to move from for-profit health insurance to a single-payer system like Medicare. We need the public health insurance option. A strong competitor to private insurance that will hold these companies to their word, or offer Americans an alternative if they break their promise.

Thankfully, Rep. John Conyers has a serious single-player plan, H.R. 676, which has 75 co-sponsors. But we need 218 votes in the House to pass H.R. 676, so we must pressure every other Representative to support the bill.

First, sign this petition and this one too, forward them to everyone you know who is sick of - or sick from - for-profit health insurance. 

Then, if your Representative not a co-sponsor, call her/him at 202-224-3121 and demand to know why not.

Then call your senators and ask them to support the choice of a public health insurance plan.
Senator Dianne Feinstein Phone: 202-224-3841
Senator Barbara Boxer Phone: 202-224-3553

Then tell the Senate Finance Committee to put a single-payer plan "on the table". 

We all need to speak out to make sure we get real health reform. We need a guarantee that no matter what the insurance industry does, we'll have access to quality, affordable health care. Thank you for helping deliver that message. Please pass this information on to your friend,s neighbors, co-workers, family members, and anyone you know who has had a problem with receiving quality health care.

Toast a Woman's Heart Today!

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for American women. ToastToWomen.com is a new website dedicated to raising awareness and contributions to benefit the fight against heart disease in women.

This Mother’s Day, send a free eToast greeting to a woman you care about. Clos du Bois is also donating $1 (up to $100,000) to WomenHeart for every free eToast sent from ToastToWomen.com. 

Health Insurers Concede Gender-based Discrimination in Pricing is Wrong

California NOW has been working with State Assemblymember Dave Jones and State Senator Mark Leno (our Legislators of the Year) to end gender-based discrimination in health insurance in California.

Earlier this year, Assemblymember Dave Jones and Senator Mark Leno introduced bills to prohibit gender discrimination in setting health insurance rates. Assembly Bill 119 (Jones) and Senate Bill 54 (Leno) were introduced after San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera sued the state to end this practice. Both bills have reached the Floors of their respective Houses and are expected to be voted on in the next week.  You can take action here to tell your State Senator and Assemblymember to vote to eliminate gender-based discriminatory pricing in health insurance plans.

Today, while testifying before the U.S. Senate’s Finance Committee, the health insurance industry finally acknowledged that their discriminatory practice of charging women more than men for health insurance should end.

Karen Ignagni, President of America’s Health Insurance Plans, stated in her testimony “We don’t believe gender should be a subject of rating.”

Assemblymember Jones commented, “I’m glad to see the insurance industry acknowledge that the practice of setting health insurance rates based upon gender should end. This discriminatory practice should stop immediately and be prohibited by law from occurring in the future.”