Thread: NCT POLL :Gov. Schwarzenegger's universal health : CLOSED

Do you support Gov. Schwarzenegger's universal health care plan?

Yes
(15 Votes, 25%)

No
(40 Votes, 67%)

Not sure
(5 Votes, 8%)

http://www.nctimes.com/

As I've said in many other polls, NO NO NO AND HELL NO!

(22 Votes, 22%)
No

(71 Votes, 70%)
Yes

Not sure
(8 Votes, 8%)

Reaction mostly positive to governor's health proposal

By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer

NORTH COUNTY -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's sweeping proposal to require health insurance for all Californians got a strong thumbs up Tuesday from a top official with a group of clinics that provide health care services to poor local families.

The plan would see businesses, individuals, insurance companies, hospitals and doctors collaborating to reduce the costs of health care coverage.

Health officials said that while the governor focused mainly on children when announcing his plan earlier this week, the proposal would also expand health care coverage for a growing number of lower-income adults who aren't currently eligible for state-funded insurance.


"He is taking steps to protect the most vulnerable: children and working adults," said Irma Cota, chief executive officer for North County Health Services, which runs health care centers in San Marcos, Ramona, Oceanside and Carlsbad and annually serves about 55,000 clients.

The change is long overdue, Cota said. She estimated that in the last year, the number of low-income residents who are ineligible for subsidized care or don't have insurance has grown by 20 percent at her nine clinics.

State figures show that nearly 5 million Californians are uninsured at any given time. Under the current system, low-income families may be eligible for no- or low-cost health insurance. For families whose earnings are under the poverty level of $20,000 per year for a family of four, parents and children are eligible for taxpayer funded Medi-Cal at no cost. The children are eligible for subsidized health care from the state if the family earns up to 250 percent of the poverty level, or $50,000 for a family of four.

Under the new plan, the adults in families who earn up to 2 1/2 times the federal poverty level would become eligible for subsidized insurance rates on a sliding scale. The children would be eligible if the family earns less than 300 percent of the $20,000 poverty level. That subsidized insurance could be bought through an insurance-purchasing pool.

State officials estimate that about 1.2 million legal residents in the state don't have health insurance and earn 100 percent to 250 percent of the federal poverty level, or between $20,000 and $50,000 per year for a family of four. Those families who earn up to 150 percent of the poverty level -- or $30,000 for a family of four -- would pay 3 percent of their income for the insurance. Families who earn $30,000 to $40,000 would pay 4 percent of their incomes, and families of four earning $40,000 to $50,000 would pay 6 percent.

The new plan would require that all Californians have health insurance substantial enough to protect them against catastrophic health care costs. The minimum coverage required would be a plan with a $5,000 deductible and out-of-pocket limits of $7,500 per person or $10,000 per family.

The minimum plan offers significantly less coverage than many corporate and personal insurance plans, and some analysts raised concerns that many residents who qualify for state coverage would abandon their current health plans in favor of plans with higher deductibles from the state.

Then, when a catastrophic health scenario occurs, "they are not going to be able to pay and what is that going to mean?" asked Sherreta Lane, vice president of reimbursement and economic analysis with the California Hospital Association.

A spokeswoman for the governor said there would be no initial penalties for people who did not purchase insurance, but that people who repeatedly sought nonemergency care without insurance would face fines from the Franchise Tax Board.

"The point is not to criminalize the uninsured but to encourage enrollment," said Sabrina Lockhart, press secretary for the governor's office.

The costs of the coverage would be shared by many. Employers with 10 or more employees could choose not to offer coverage but would have to contribute the equivalent of 4 percent of their payroll costs toward a statewide plan to be offered to employees. Hospitals would contribute 4 percent of their revenues while private physicians would have to pay 2 percent of their revenues.

On the plus side for hospitals, which often lose money when time they provide care to patients covered by the state's Medi-Cal program, Medi-Cal payments to doctors and hospitals would increase significantly.

Lane said Tuesday that her association is excited about the governor's proposal.

"We are ... supportive of a Medi-Cal rate increase," she said, adding that such a hike in reimbursement rate would come close to eliminating hospitals' negative costs in treating Medi-Cal patients.

Lane said the changes would also help reduce the flow of red ink for many emergency room operations in the state and help take the pressure off overcrowded emergency rooms. Currently, many uninsured patients use emergency rooms for nonemergency health care.

Illegal immigrants would also be covered under the governor's proposal. According to the governor's office, there are approximately 1 million uninsured people who do not have permanent legal residence in the California, including illegal immigrants. About 750,000 of these people are earning less than the threshold of 250 percent of the poverty level, or $50,000.

Those individuals would be eligible for subsidized coverage.

Lane said that one question is how many of those illegal immigrants would be willing to overcome their fear of being discovered as illegal immigrants and enter the health care system.

"Will they actually be willing to receive care in (clinics) or wait until forced to use an emergency department?" she asked.

Despite this important step by Schwarzenegger in providing affordable health care to the working poor, however, North County Health Services' Cota said she is still concerned that some people will have trouble coming up with the money to pay the monthly premiums.

"There will be some who are still not able to afford (it) on their own," she said.

Lockhart, from the governor's office, said an estimated 1.1 million people in California are currently uninsured and earn above the limit for subsidized coverage. However, even those people will find that rates are cheaper, Lockhart said. A major reason for the high rates of medical insurance is that those who do pay for insurance are subsidizing the cost of those who are not insured but still receive medical treatment, she said. By obliging everyone to have insurance, rates should drop, Lockhart said.

A spokesman for the California Health Care Foundation, a statewide nonprofit research organization that calls itself nonpartisan, said Tuesday that he estimates that about 10 percent of insurance premiums go to pay for the costs of health care for the uninsured.

He said that his organization is supportive of the governor's plan, and are encouraged by the fact that he proposes shared responsibility.

However, "keep in mind that this is just the initial proposal and who knows what it will look like after various special interests have weighed in," said spokesman Steve Birenbaum.

For the foundation, a key feature that any universal health care plan must have is affordability.

"You can't have effective universal coverage without addressing the cost issue," he said.

-- Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (760) 740-5426 or wbennett@nctimes.com

At first I thought this plan only covered illegal immigrants that were 18 or younger, now I see it covers all illegal immmigrants.

YES - 24 - 21%

NO - 81 - 71%

Not Sure - 9 - 8%

Do you support Gov. Schwarzenegger's universal health care plan?

Yes
(51 Votes, 21%)
No
(168 Votes, 69%)
Not sure
(23 Votes, 10%)

I was too late to vote. There is another poll up now and about the Iraq war.