Single Payer Bill-SB840-Reintroduced in Sacramento

Senator Sheila Kuehl will launch this year's campaign for her single-payer health care bill 10 am, Tuesday, Feb. 27 at a press conference in the State Capitol in Sacramento, Room 1190. She will introduce her new SB 840 and we believe that a large turnout of supporters is vital.

Later in the day, at 1:30 pm, the Assembly Health Committee will hold a special informational hearing on SB 840. Sen. Kuehl and expert witnesses will present the case for a universal single payer health care system. And they will show our campaign DVD, The Healthcare Solution: California OneCare. Again, we need a huge turnout at Room 4202 in the State Capitol to show committee members strong public support for the bill.

It took two years-2005-2006-to move the first SB 840 through the legislature and put it on the governor's desk. Then he vetoed it. This year we are building an even larger grassroots movement in order to put the new SB 840 back on his desk by this summer.

This campaign won't be easy. There are many new legislators who have to be educated about single payer. And there are other health care reform bills being introduced. But there is only one solution to the health care crisis in California: SB 840.

Vote Health is helping to organize carpools, which will meet at the Ashby BART. If you can be a driver or a passenger for an 8 am departure, please call Sue at 510/540-7085. If you can only make the afternoon hearing, call Jim at 510/581-5169 for an 11 am departure from Ashby BART. We suggest that supporters bring a bag lunch, unless you want to eat lunch at the basement cafeteria in the Capitol. RSVP with either Jim or Sue so we know in advance how many people to expect.

Vote Health is looking for a few good parties

Health care reform is all the rage in Sacramento. Senator Sheila Kuehl will reintroduce her single payer bill, SB840, but it will have a lot of company. Three heavy hitters-the governor, Senator Don

Perata and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez-have all introduced competing measures. This complicates the political landscape, and makes it critical for Vote Health to redouble its efforts to educate the public about meaningful, comprehensive health care reform.

To meet this challenge, Vote Health will build on our work in support of the OneCareNow campaign by launching an initiative to sponsor house parties in communities throughout Alameda County. We will use the parties to raise awareness about Kuehl's single payer bill and to raise funds for OneCareNow. We need to highlight the differences between comprehensive reform and incremental measures, and enlist more people in the OneCareNow-single payer campaign.

House parties are easy to organize, and allow activists to use their social networks of friends and families to spread the word. They were a critical element in the Measure A campaign, allowing us to raise money, awareness and volunteers to pump into the campaign.

Vote Health has set a goal of identifying six members willing to host house parties over the next six months. The OneCareNow.org website offers a step-by-step guide for party hosts-

• Planning the party: where and when to hold a

party; food and refreshments; what campaign

materials are needed; setting a financial goal;

creating your invitation list, party announce-

ment and tracking RSVPs;

• Organizing the program: who will speak, will

you screen the documentary, The Health

Care Solution: California OneCare; who will

make the fundraising pitch; and

• Post-party wrap-up: celebrating your success;

thanking your guests, speakers, and helpers;

and forwarding the contributions and names

of new volunteers to the OneCareNow

campaign.

A number of Vote Health activists, who have held successful house parties, are can work with you as you plan your party. To host a house party, please contact Sue, 510/540-7085, or send a note to info@votehealth.org.

Measure A Report Finally Issued

After a very late start, due to a slow appointment process, the Measure A Citizens Oversight Committee has issued its first report for fiscal year 2004-2005, reviewing the expenditures of this special tax intended to maintain and expand medical services to the indigent, uninsured and low-income residents of Alameda County. Vote Health officers Kay Eisenhower and Brad Cleveland serve on this committee and helped draft the final report.

After hearing from many providers and reviewing a great deal of paper, our committee concluded that Measure A funds for 2004-2005 were spent in compliance with the purposes set forth in the ballot language. Given cuts in state and federal funding, most of the tax receipts were used to stabilize existing services. However, several providers were able to expand services, especially to address racial and ethnic health disparities in the community. We were particularly impressed by the efforts of the Alameda Health Consortium clinics-Lifelong, La Clinica, Asian Health Services, Tiburcio Vasquez, among others-and the County Public Health Department. The school-based clinics expanded services by using Measure A and tobacco settlement money funds to generate additional revenue, quadrupling the initial investment!

The committee raised a number of concerns in the report. We hope to improve reporting compliance so the committee receives clear and consistent information on Measure A expenditures. We stated the committee needed more information to determine whether Measure A's prohibition against the substitution of Measure A funds for the county's ongoing support of the Medical Center was being honored. We also noted the composition of the committee, which is overwhelming male and white, does not reflect the county's diversity; we urged the Board of Supervisors to take this into account in future committee appointments.

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