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Thank you for coming back!  This is our final and MOST IMPORTANT segment for our medical care blog series, Are YOU ready for Single Payer?  The whole reason we dove into this topic was because of SB 562, the Healthy California Act.

On 6/23/17, CA Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) shelved the proposal saying it is “woefully incomplete” and has postponed any further legislative action until 1/18/18.

At the very least, this will give the CA Senate and Assembly time to address some of the serious flaws in SB 562, including the lack of a funding mechanism, zero public accountability and no way to control or manage medical care and costs.

While this bill is off the table for now, it will be sure to zombie.  If it IS resurrected next year, you might not get a chance to vote on this bill.   But YOU will pay for it.

As it was written, SB 562 estimated an annual price tag of $460 BILLION – and that’s just to start.  The current healthcare budget is $60 billion.  That’s QUITE an increase.

• Proponents don’t really balance the books when it comes to the tax burdens which could be put on all of us. When it costs too much, employers will start the lay-offs… that means you!   And there’ll be no more $$ going into the unemployment trust fund… so you’ll be on your own.
• SB 562 – like the ACA — doesn’t have any language addressing the cost of getting medical care (which, let’s face it, is already out of control!)

The Insurance Mom is worried about you.  She wants everyone to have easy access to medical care.  The Insurance Mom thinks SB 562 is alarming. Why?  Well, I’ll tell you!

Under this proposed bill, you will be forced to …

The Insurance Mom mentioned in last week’s post that there seems to be a huge misunderstanding of how America’s health care delivery system compares to those of other countries.   The divine Michael Lujan, shares his expertise:

The UK Model – In this mostly single-payer model, healthcare is provided and financed by the government through taxes. Except for small co-pays for prescriptions, there are no co-pays or deductibles as health care is delivered as a public service, like fire and police. With Britain’s National Health Service, most doctors and hospitals are owned by the government and patient wait times can vary by region or treatment type. As the sole payer, the government controls what doctors can do, and what they can charge. Our Veterans (VA) system is a close example. They also have private insurance options.

The Canadian Model – With this “National Health Insurance model”, the providers are private but the payer is a government-run insurance plan everyone pays into. Our Medicare system is a close example of this model. The private insurance plans are non-profit and manage their costs by limiting or delaying care.  Canada’s decentralized health system (coincidentally called “Medicare”) is technically a multi-payer system with slight differences for each of their ten provinces and three territories; some provinces/territories have co-pays at the point of care and others don’t.

The German Model – In this multi-payer system, providers and payers are private and largely funded through employer-based payroll deductions. Patients have co-pays at the point of care. The world’s first national health system (established around 1883) offers citizens 135+ private insurance plans called “sickness funds”. These private insurers negotiate prices with private hospitals and providers. Patient wait times are shorter than U.S. patients typically experience. This is the health care delivery system most familiar to …

Thanks for tuning in for our series on single payer!  What a difference a week makes; big update on SB 562.

On Friday, 6/23/17, CA Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) shelved the proposal saying it is “woefully incomplete” and has postponed any further legislative action until January 2018.

“If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.”  – P.J. O’Rourke

The Insurance Mom’s colleague, Michael Lujan (one of CA’s best-known expert insurance legislative analysts) offers this in his amazing post on LinkedIn:

Single Payer (SP) would:

• Replace all forms of private and public health insurance in California with a state government-run health system.
• Would eliminate an estimated half million insurance, health care administration and related jobs, tripling our current unemployment rate. And without payroll contributions going into the system, there will be no money to pay unemployment benefits.
• Could make California a health care destination for anyone seeking “free healthcare” as neither citizenship, nor permanent residency is required to use the SP system.
• Requires massive tax increases. The additional 15% payroll tax would make California the highest taxed state in the country.

If enacted, The Healthy California Act (SB 562) would be the largest tax increase in California’s history. The entire state general fund is $183 billion. As proposed, the bill would cost an estimated $400 billion for the initial year and unknown costs for subsequent years. While that may seem like a deal-killer, the bill moved forward to the State Assembly and should not be ignored (when it resurfaces in 2018).

While this bill may be dead in the water, single payer / universal healthcare / socialized medicine / Medicare-for-all have been floating around the brains of the public.  The Insurance Mom wants her kiddies well-informed about …

Are YOU confused about healthcare?  We all are!  There are some VERY big things being discussed right now regarding healthcare insurance.  But we read all the articles and boil it down into an easily digestible stew.  Here’s the inside scoop from The Insurance Mom!

While a lot is happening in Washington, there’s even more urgent things happening here at home in CA.

SB 562 — The Healthy California Act — is working its way through Sacramento right now.   You probably won’t get to vote on it.

State Senators Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) and Sen. Toni Atkins ((D-San Diego) say they know what’s best for their constituents.   They say… “all Californians will have one plan, more choice.”  Huh?  What does that mean??

Welcome to Our Blog Series

The Insurance Mom wants her insurance family to be informed, insured, and inspired to engage in the future of health care.  That’s why I’ve written a blog series about Single Payer Health Care.  Tune in next week for some truly EYE-OPENING info on our insights of these concepts.

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