Senator Kuehl Replies to Vote Health Concerns over Changes to SB 840

With an expression of gratitude for the level of attention Vote Health is paying to the policy matters contained in her universal health coverage bill, SB 840, Senator Kuehl assured us that "the next draft of the bill will once again prohibit co-payments and deductibles for at least the initial two years of implementation of the program."

In our letter of August 23 to the Senator, we also expressed concern about changes made in the bill regarding physician compensation policy. Her response explains that she made those changes because "banning physicians from maintaining self-paying patients would not have survived constitutional challenges."

She has noted our concern that the powers of the commissioner to reduce benefits to deal with unforeseen revenue shortfalls seem to be open-ended, without clear guidelines to ensure that the public could rely on the health insurance system for continuous uninterrupted coverage; this will be considered in the next draft of the bill.

Senator Kuehl repeated that SB 840 is her top legislative priority and that she believes "very strongly...that a single payer model is the only way to stabilize our crumbling health care system."

Copies of her letter will be available at the Nov. 21st membership meeting.

The bill is currently "parked" until 2006 when the legislature will consider a funding mechanism for the bill.

Vote Health Officers Appointed to Measure A Oversight Committee

Measure A's oversight committee is finally getting underway, with most appointments made recently by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Voters passed the half-cent sales tax in March 2004 to maintain and improve quality healthcare services for the indigent and uninsured with the understanding that a citizens oversight committee would make sure that the funds were spent as outlined in the ballot language. This committee's deliberations will be open to the public.

Kay Eisenhower, Chair of Vote Health, has been appointed by Supervisor Nate Miley to the committee, and Vote Health Treasurer Brad Cleveland was tapped for one of the two labor seats. The first meeting of the committee should occur in the next few weeks. We'll know a lot more about how this committee will work and at what pace once we get started.

Check this newsletter for updates!

Vote Health Addresses Priorities for ACMC in Letter to Board

Vote Health responded quickly to Cambio's parting shot at the Medical Center in a letter we delivered to the ACMC Board of Trustees meeting October 25. The Tennessee-based consultants couldn't leave with dignity or humility but insisted that ACMC should close unprofitable services. Apparently they are trying to cover their exit from a seriously demoralized health care system by claiming that their suggestions were not implemented so they can't be blamed for not fixing the problems!

Vote Health pointed out that Cambio's proposals for reductions in service would conflict with the intent of Measure A, to protect vital services. We noted that they failed to analyze the impact of their proposed closures - how many patients would be affected; where those patients could seek care if not available at ACMC, and whether the cost to ACMC might ultimately be greater as patients go to the emergency room rather than primary care?

Vote Health, after all, has a long memory! We pointed out that the clinic closures in the summer of 2003 actually cost the Medical Center more than they saved. Even Cambio recognized this mistake (which preceded their arrival) and recommends opening another clinic near Highland to replace Central. Back in the 1990's ACMC lost millions of dollars when the Board of Supervisors closed Fairmont

Hospital's acute care unit.

We urged the Board of Trustees to:

• Maintain ACMC's mission;
• Focus on short term operational improvements to increase efficiency, reduce costs, expand access to care, and address quality of patient care; and
• Initiate a strategic planning process focusing on facility replacement and additional clinic capacity, and revenue enhancement by expanding existing or developing new services.

Board members seem anxious to move on, to get past the acrimony caused by Cambio's callous bottom-line approach. The new CEO is making a good initial impression on medical center staff and has good public hospital experience. But we need to remind hospital administration that it's important to recognize what has gone wrong in order to avoid repeating past mistakes.

Volunteers Helped Bury Arnold

Many thanks to all you Vote Health activists for the work you did to help defeat the governor's ballot measures. The California Nurses Association deserves special thanks for creating a "truth squad" that hounded Arnold at his public appearances both before and during the campaign!

The Alliance for a Better California, the labor-community coalition that led the fight against Arnold's initiatives, fielded more than 700 volunteers during the last days of the campaign.

Newsletter committee:
Jan Arnold, Bradley Cleveland, Kay Eisenhower and Jim Forsyth.
Our thanks to CA Nurses Association for their help in producing this newsletter.