CALIFORNIANS OVERWHELMINGLY DISAPPROVE OF THE HEALTH CARE BILL



AP NEWS
Californians divided on health reform bill

By JUDY LIN - Associated Press | Posted: March 20, 2010 10:53 pm | No Comments Posted | Print

SACRAMENTO ---- Californians remain divided over the health care overhaul to be voted on in Congress even as the state arguably needs it the most.

Hundreds of people last week picketed Democratic incumbents in swing congressional districts in the Central Valley, some in an effort to block the legislation, others to pass it.

Some town hall meetings were scheduled throughout the weekend to debate the health care proposal, including one held Saturday at California State University, Sacramento.

Supporters of the plan say the bill will help California, which carries the largest public insurance program for the poor and is struggling with a growing number of uninsured.

But opponents, such as Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, campaigned against it, saying the bill would contribute to more government spending and higher taxes.

"If it passes, and I fully expect it will, I think what's going to happen is people are going to immediately start feeling the costs and they don't immediately see the benefits," Fiorina said during an appearance before a gathering of Republican women in Sacramento.

Like Fiorina, GOP challengers ---- former Congressman Tom Campbell and state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore of Irvine ---- also oppose the Democratic legislation.

Each is vying to be the GOP's pick against incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer.

In recent days, protesters have targeted Democratic congressional members in vulnerable districts, including Rep. Jerry McNerney of Pleasanton, Dennis Cardoza of Atwater and Jim Costa of Fresno.

All three voted for the bill last year but held out on the current bill until Saturday.

Each said they would once again vote "yes."

"Now is the time to address the skyrocketing cost of health care in our country," McNerney said in a statement.

Their decision comes after heavy lobbying from their constituents.

Pleasanton police and California Highway Patrol officers on Friday were forced by protesters to close off-ramps connecting a freeway to surface streets, causing some traffic backups in the area.

The congressmen's offices have been flooded with thousands of calls, e-mails and letters in recent weeks both in support and opposition to the health care bill.

McNerney represents a district in which Republicans are a majority.

He was heavily picketed along with Cardoza, who represent agriculture-dependent districts devastated by high unemployment.

President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats were trying to secure critical votes to pass the 10-year, $940 billion measure that represents the biggest expansion of the social safety net since Medicare was enacted more than 50 years ago.

Passage of the bill would mean expanded health coverage for California's approximately 38 million residents.

A report released this week by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found that the state's uninsured population jumped to 8.2 million last year from 6.4 million in 2007.

The jump was driven mainly by Californians who lost employer-sponsored health insurance.

Yet, Californians overwhelmingly disapprove of the way federal lawmakers are dealing with health care, according to the latest Field Poll.

Field Poll executive director Mark DiCamillo said voters are turned off, in part, because they perceive that neither party is working for the public good.

Instead, he said, they see politicians calculating how their vote will affect their political futures.

Supporters of the health care bill say the proposal would give the federal government the authority to block rate hikes, roll back premium prices and force insurance companies to give rebates to consumers.

"California would disproportionately benefit from these reforms," said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a labor-sponsored health care advocacy group. "We have more uninsured, we have greater percent of lower-wage workers and more people denied from pre-existing conditions. And those would all be issues that would be addressed with reform."

Last month, Anthem Blue Cross, California's largest for-profit health insurer, was grilled by state lawmakers for planning to increase insurance premiums by as much as 39 percent. California Attorney General Jerry Brown's office has launched an investigation into insurance denials and rate increases.

Posted in State-and-regional on Saturday, March 20, 2010 10:53 pm Updated: 11:06 pm. | Tags: News, State,


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