Wednesday, August 27, 2003

HEALTH ACCESS UPDATE
Wednesday, August 27, 2003


CONFERENCE COMMITTEE TO MEET TUESDAY ON BILL TO EXPAND HEALTH CARE

It is expected that the conference committee on SB 2 (Burton) will meet the afternoon of Tuesday, September 2nd, the day after Labor Day. This will kick off a two-week effort to pass this major expansion of health care before the end of the legislative session September 12th.

CONTENT: A version of a draft bill should be ready in the next day. ATTACHED is a two-page fact sheet, which describes the current draft and its provisions, and has been approved by Senate President John Burton's office. While it is different in size and scope from the original version of SB 2, the bill in this form is estimated to extend coverage to over one million uninsured Californians, and for the first time set a precedent that working families should get health insurance. Meeting the "first, do no harm" principle, the bill would also preserve the current systems of public insurance programs and safety-net institutions.

SUPPORT: For these reasons, Health Access California strongly supports SB 2, and urges that other advocates for the uninsured also come out in support on Tuesday, and in the two weeks to follow, to take advantage of this window of opportunity. The bill is sponsored by the California Labor Federation and the California Medical Association, and has the support of not only consumer and citizen organizations, but hospitals, some insurers, and some employers.

TURNOUT NEEDED FOR TUESDAY: The conference committee, made up of Senators John Burton (D), Jackie Speier (D), and Sam Aanestad (R), and Assemblymembers Dario Frommer (D), Rebecca Cohn (D), and Robert Pacheco (R), is expected to consider testimony at Tuesday's hearing. We hope as many organizations and advocates for the uninsured as possible can ATTEND AND TESTIFY IN SUPPORT ON TUESDAY in support of this expansion of health coverage. It is likely that there may also be a press event the morning of Tuesday, September 2nd, with more details to be announced. Health Access will be distributing other materials explaining the bill and its impact in the next several days.

EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES: We are actively encouraging groups to schedule in-district delegation meetings with the offices of Assemblymembers, to set-up local press events to demonstrate the health care crisis and the need for reform, and other efforts. Other events of note:
LOS ANGELES STRATEGY MEETING: There will be an in-person meeting on Thursday, AUGUST 28TH, at 4:00PM, at Conference Room of SEIU 660, 550 S. Virgil Avenue, Los Angeles. In addition to addressing issues around the content of the bill, this will also deal with organizing and advocacy to get Los Angeles Assemblymembers in support.
CALL-IN TO GOVERNOR DAY: The California Labor Federation is spearheading a call-in day on Thursday, September 4th, to get calls and faxes to Governor Davis to urge him to sign SB 2 when it gets to his desk. Governor Davis' phone number is: 916-445-2841. His fax number is: 916-445-4633.

--
Anthony E. Wright
Executive Director
Health Access
1127 11th St., #234, Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph: 916-442-2308, Fx: 916-497-0921
awright@health-access.org

Labels: Updates

posted by Anthony Wright | Permalink | 10:20 PM


 

HEALTH ACCESS ALERT
Monday, August 25, 2003

Actions Needed This Week to Support Health Care:
* MEET TO EXPAND HEALTH CARE TO WORKING CALIFORNIANS: Conference Calls and Meetings on SB 2
* CALL TO STOP OVERBILLING OF UNINSURED HOSPITAL PATIENTS: Call Senator Alpert to Pass AB232
* PETITION TO SAY NO TO MEDICARE PRIVATIZATION: Tell Senator Feinstein to Vote No


* EXPANDING HEALTH CARE FOR WORKING CALIFORNIANS

It is expected that the conference committee on SB2, AB1527, and AB1528 will start to meet in the next week and unveil a draft of a bill to expand health care to over a million Californians. While a bill is not yet available, we want to make sure that all supporters of the bills have the opportunity to ask questions about the content, address concerns, and be part of the planning for advocacy in the next two-three weeks. In this effort, potential supporters are invited to participate:
* FOR COMMUNITY LEADERS AND LOCAL ACTIVISTS: There will be a CONFERENCE CALL for folks interested in working support of the bill, on TUESDAY, AUGUST 26TH at 3:00pm. Local organizations are invited, and statewide organizations should feel free to have their local leaders participate, to also help plan local and in-district activities. The Dial-in Number is: (877) 214-0402. The participant Code is: 180405.
* FOR LOS ANGELES AREA ORGANIZATIONS: There will be an in-person meeting on THURSDAY, AUGUST 28TH, at 4:00PM, at Conference Room of SEIU 660, 550 S. Virgil Avenue, Los Angeles. In addition to addressing issues around the content of the bill, this will also deal with organizing and advocacy to get Los Angeles Assemblymembers in support.

What can advocates do to take advantage of this major opportunity?
* Participate in one of these meetings, to get your questions answers, and strategize about lobbying and media work.
* Call, write, fax Assemblymembers to urge them to support SB 2. Schedule meetings with Assemblymembers to indicate your support.
* Organize press conferences and other public events to spotlight the problems of the uninsured and in support of major a step in support of this.
* Identify and recruit other allies to also support SB 2.
* Identify uninsured working people that would get coverage under SB 2. If you can identify them, Health Access can do the rest, including training them to be able to tell their story to policymakers and the press.


* CONSUMER PROTECTIONS FOR SELF-PAY PATIENTS

Advocates for the uninsured are urged to make phone calls in support of AB 232 (Chan), to provide consumer protections for self-pay hospital patients.

Sponsored by Health Access California, the bill would require hospitals to provide information to the uninsured about their consumer rights and financial options, and prohibit hospital from prematurely sending patients to collections. Patients that meet the income eligibility standards, would be prohibited from having to pay over the Medicare, Medi-Cal, or worker's compensation rate. Right now, patients who go to the hospital for one day and get a $30,000 bill for a procedure that insurers would only pay $3,000 or less. Partially as a result, half of all personal bankruptcies in the nation are because of medical problems and medical bills.

AB 232 would provide first-in-the-nation consumer protections for self-pay patients, especially against such hospital overbilling. It is currently is being held in the Senate Appropriations Committee. WE NEED YOUR HELP in the next several days for a final push to get this on the Governor's desk. We have made several modifications to AB232 to address any concerns about cost, but we need to counter the active opposition of the hospital industry. A similar bill that Health Access supported, SB 379 (Ortiz), was stalled in Senate Appropriations early this year.

The Senate Appropriations Committee needs to release bill by August 29th in order for them to be considered this year. We need support from the following Senators on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Letters, calls, faxes, and words of support would be greatly appreciated.
DEMS: Alpert, Bowen, Burton, Escutia, Karnette, Machado, Murray, Speier
REPS: Battin, Aanestad, Ashburn, Johnson, Poochigian

Organizations and community leaders, especially in the San Diego area, are urged to PLEASE CALL AND FAX TO THE CHAIR OF THE SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE, to:
The Honorable Dede Alpert
Senator
Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
SACRAMENTO PHONE: 916-445-3952
SACRAMENTO FAX: 916-327-2188
SAN DIEGO DISTRICT PHONE: 619-645-3090
APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE PHONE: 916-445-3284


* MEDICARE PRIVATIZATION

As you may know, two bills are being considered in a House-Senate conference committee that would devastate the Medicare program: H.R. 1 and S. 1. While they are being sold as a prescription drug expansion of the Medicare program, they actually would provide very little coverage: many seniors would actually pay more under these plans; others would only see minimal savings. More problematically, the bills as crafted would lead to the privatization of Medicare. We need your support to convince Senator Feinstein to help us stop this legislation.

Activists around the country have been working overtime to get their Senators to sign on to a letter, which is ATTACHED, stating they will oppose any bill that does not commit to a good prescription drug benefit and no privatization of the Medicare program. So far, 37 Senators, including Senator Boxer, have signed this letter by Senator Kennedy. SENATOR FEINSTEIN HAS NOT!

A delegation of senior activists will be in Washington DC on September 3 - 5 for the Legislative Conference of the Alliance for Retired Americans. The California delegation is planning to visit Senator Feinstein's office to try and convince her to sign on to this letter, in person.

We plan to bring the ATTACHED petition, with signatures from dozens of organizations representing thousands of people who are concerned about the future of Medicare. We would like your organization to be listed.

Time is of the essence. We have a week to collect as many organizations as we can. The request:
1. Get your group(s) to agree to have their name listed on this petition as soon as possible.
2. Fax or email your organizations' endorsement by Thursday, August 28th - no later!

FAX this form back to the Senior Action Network at 415-546-1344, or E-MAIL the California Alliance for Retired Americans at jreid@retiredamericans.org. For more information, CALL the California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA) at 415-550-0828.

--
Anthony E. Wright
Executive Director
Health Access
1127 11th St., #234, Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph: 916-442-2308, Fx: 916-497-0921
awright@health-access.org

Labels: Updates

posted by Anthony Wright | Permalink | 10:00 PM


 

HEALTH ACCESS UPDATE
Friday, August 22, 2003

MOMENTUM BUILDS FOR EMPLOYER COVERAGE EXPANSION
Actions Needed to Win SB 2; See Below for Meetings, Activities

As previously reported, a legislative conference committee is set to meet and unveil a new version of SB 2 (Burton), to extend coverage to working families. The bill would require some employers to pay a fee into a state purchasing pool to buy coverage for workers; those employers who provide health coverage to their workers would be exempt from the fee. (See below about meetings to get information about details as they come out.)

COMMITTEE MEETING SOON: The committee was appointed to reconcile differences with similar Assembly bills, AB1527 (Frommer) and AB 1528 (Cohn). The conference committee is made up of the Senators John Burton, Jackie Speier, and Sam Aanestad and Assemblymembers Dario Frommer, Rebecca Cohn, and Robert Pacheco. They are expected to start meeting sometime next week to officially consider the bill. If the conference committee approves the bill, it will be voted up-or-down on the Senate and Assembly floors.

STARS ALIGNING: Health advocates are very hopeful that a bill could be passed this year. Senate President John Burton has placed this as his highest legislative priority. For the first time in recent memory, most of the major stakeholders are in support of the framework, including the major organizations representing labor, doctors, consumers, hospitals, and even some insurers and employers. In the turmoil of the recall election, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante has publicly come out in support of SB 2, as part of his overall budget package, since such a bill would help provide some budget savings. Rumors of a delay in the bill are only from those who seek to oppose it.

DETAILS TO COME: While it is likely that the reported bill will not be as expansive as the original versions of SB 2, the bill would extend health coverage to hundreds of thousands, if not over a million California workers, and probably to some families as well. Such a bill would establish an important principle that working families deserve health coverage, and would create a framework for additional expansions. Working with our allies, Health Access California has advocated to ensure that the bill meets the "first, do no harm" test: that the bill maintains key principles about coverage, and would not disadvantage existing coverage programs or safety-net institutions. Health Access will provide information about the details of the bills as soon as they are made public.

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY: Health advocates have a exciting window of opportunity to make major progress on the issue of the uninsured. The legislative session ends in three weeks, on September 12th. Health advocates will need to be active and united in support SB 2 through the Assembly, with the Governor, and to defend it afterwards in an uncertain political environment.

MEETINGS TO ANSWER QUESTIONS, PLAN ACTIONS: We want to make sure that all supporters of the bills have the opportunity to ask questions about the content of the bill, address concerns, and be part of the planning for advocacy in the next two-three weeks. In this effort, potential supporters are invited to any on of the three meeting opportunities:

* FOR SACRAMENTO-BASED LOBBYISTS: There will be an in-person meeting in Sacramento this MONDAY, AUGUST 25th, at 12:30noon. It will be held in the conference room of 1127 11th Street, 4th Floor, California Labor Federation. We hope to be answer specific questions about the details of the bill, and plan lobbying efforts.

* FOR COMMUNITY LEADERS AND LOCAL ACTIVISTS: There will be a CONFERENCE CALL for folks interested in working support of the bill, on TUESDAY, AUGUST 26TH at 3:00pm. Local organizations are invited, and statewide organizations should feel free to have their local leaders participate, to also help plan local and in-district activities. The Dial-in Number is: (877) 214-0402. The participant Code is: 180405.

* FOR LOS ANGELES AREA ORGANIZATIONS: There will be an in-person meeting on THURSDAY, AUGUST 28TH, at 4:00PM, at Conference Room of SEIU 660, 550 S. Virgil Avenue, Los Angeles. In addition to addressing issues around the content of the bill, this will also deal with organizing and advocacy to get Los Angeles Assemblymembers in support.

What can advocates do?
* Participate in one of these meetings, to get your questions answers, and strategize about lobbying and media work.
* Call, write, fax Assemblymembers to urge them to support SB 2.
* Schedule meetings with Assemblymembers to indicate your support.
* Organize press conferences and other public events to spotlight the problems of the uninsured and in support of major a step in support of this.
* Identify and recruit other allies to also support SB 2. ATTACHED is a flyer designed to encourage small businesses to support the type of reforms in SB 2.

BELOW is an article from yesterday's San Jose Mercury News describing the situation.

--
Posted on Thu, Aug. 21, 2003

Lawmakers to release health-insurance plan
LANDMARK BILL WOULD FORCE FIRMS TO OFFER COVERAGE
By Mark Schwanhausser
Mercury News

Racing the clock on the legislative session -- and perhaps Gov. Gray Davis' tenure -- powerful California lawmakers are scrambling to pass a landmark bill that would force companies to provide health insurance to hundreds of thousands of workers.

The debate could erupt anew today. Key legislative players hope to release their plan for a ``play or pay'' proposal that seeks to force companies to either provide health insurance to workers or pay a user fee so that the state could buy coverage for them.

``It's an enormous challenge,'' said Jill Yegian, a health care expert with the California HealthCare Foundation in Oakland. ``Passage and implementation of employer-mandated coverage would represent a sea change in the way health care is structured in California.''

Such a ``play or pay'' plan could break ground, Yegian said. Hawaii adopted such a plan decades ago, long before federal rules made it more difficult to implement such a plan. And though Maine recently approved a plan, it has yet to take effect.

Proposals to extend health insurance coverage have been killed repeatedly over more than a decade by ferocious objections from business groups. Despite opposition again from the California Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, the sponsors hope to win swift approval in both houses before the monthlong legislative session ends Sept. 12. One goal is to pressure Davis to sign the bill into law or risk crossing his powerful labor allies just before the Oct. 7 recall election.

Though many health care proposals have foundered in the Legislature over the years, some business groups worry about the forces gathered behind this bill, which is expected to be called SB 2. One big reason: It's being pushed by Sen. John Burton, D-San Francisco, the leader of the Senate, who wants to expand health coverage before he loses his post to term limits, said Richard Costigan, chief lobbyist for the California Chamber of Commerce.

``This bill has momentum,'' said Costigan, noting that Burton has pushed his plan hard long before the recall became a reality. ``Look at the fact that Sen. Burton is in his last legislative session. This is a legacy issue for him.''

Lawmakers have pushed a variety of ideas over the years to extend health insurance to more of the 6.7 million Californians who lack such a safety net. Some want to expand current public programs like Medi-Cal. Others envision a ``single-payer'' system that would create a state agency that would administer health insurance.

But the ``play or pay'' approach seeks to force more companies to provide insurance coverage to their workers, or at least pick up much of the tab. This bill -- still under construction and the product of three bills with similar intent -- hopes to chisel away at the nearly 1.6 million California workers who either aren't offered coverage or can't qualify for it because they are part-time or temporary workers.

In recent days the debate has been delegated to back rooms -- and tempers have flared. Though proponents originally wanted to hold the first hearing on the proposal today, key Assembly and Senate players and their staffs were still arguing over it into Wednesday evening. A hearing is not expected until next week.

``Things are going up and down now,'' said Richard Steffen, staff director for Sen. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, who co-sponsored SB 2. ``There has been some disagreement, some blowups, but people came back to the table, and it appears that now things are looking OK.''

While the back-room debates rage, the public debate is on hold. To expedite the process, all three bills were stripped of details, leaving analysts and lobbyists to guess which features would survive.

For example, one of the three -- AB 1527 -- would exempt companies that employ 50 or fewer workers -- which would spare about 94 percent of California's companies that employ 27 percent of the state's workers, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Also up in the air: how much of the premium employers would shoulder, the breadth of the coverage that would be required and the extent to which dependents would be covered.

``The devil is in the details,'' said Alina Salganicoff, a vice president with Kaiser foundation in Menlo Park.

The state Chamber of Commerce said it will oppose any bill that mandates insurance coverage, calling such proposals ``job-killers.'' Some business groups are opposed to the proposal based on what the bills originally contained. The California Association of Health Underwriters said it might support a bill, but said the wording of the three bills originally was ``horrendous.''

Critics also charge that the lawmakers are ``ramrodding'' through a bill that has ramifications for struggling businesses, as well as workers who need medical care and the economy in general.

``The reason behind that is recall insanity,'' said Jeffrey Miles, president of the Association of Health Underwriters. ``A bad bill on this issue will make energy deregulation look like a walk in the park.''

Proponent Tom Rankin, president of the California Labor Federation AFL-CIO, rejects the notion that the bill is being rushed, saying the current retooling is the normal step in a long debate over three high-profile bills. He also scoffed at predictions that a bill would induce companies to hire fewer workers or hire more part-time or temporary workers to avoid insurance costs.

``The Chamber of Commerce says every bill is a job-killer,'' Rankin said. ``Anything that is a mandate they don't like, and they call it a job-killer.''

--
Anthony E. Wright
Executive Director
Health Access
1127 11th St., #234, Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph: 916-442-2308, Fx: 916-497-0921
awright@health-access.org

Labels: Updates

posted by Anthony Wright | Permalink | 9:59 PM


 

Tuesday, August 19, 2003

RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR? Questions for Candidates about Health Care

California has made important strides in the last several years in health care, from instituting a strong HMO Patients’ Bill of Rights to expanding health care to over a million children. But many daunting challenges remain. All who seek to be Governor of California should answer the following questions about current health care issues that are now pending in Sacramento.

Budget Fairness:
To address the budget crisis, would you cut Medi-Cal eligibility? Healthy Families eligibility?
To address the budget crisis, would you cut Medi-Cal benefits?
To address the budget crisis, would you seek to reduce the number of people on Medi-Cal?
To address the budget crisis, would you reduce Medi-Cal provider rates?
To address the budget crisis, would you cut funding to public hospitals? community clinics?
Do you support raising revenues to prevent severe cuts to health and other vital services?
In order to prevent further cuts, do you support restoring the upper tax brackets to 1995 levels?
In order to prevent further cuts, do you support maintaining the current vehicle license fee?
In order to prevent further cuts, do you support an increase in the tobacco tax?
In order to prevent further cuts, do you support an increase in the sales tax?

Expanding Coverage:
Do you support expanding the Healthy Families program to cover not just children but parents as well?
Do you support expanding Medi-Cal and other programs to cover more working families?
Would you eliminate the administrative barriers that prevent many from getting and staying on Medi-Cal?
Would you eliminate semi-annual reporting requirements in Medi-Cal?
Would you eliminate the asset test in Medi-Cal that prevents low-income families from savings?
Do you support requiring employers to provide health care to their workers?
Would you sign SB 2 (Burton)?
Do you support universal health care coverage?
Would you sign SB 921 (Kuehl)?

Consumer and Cost Protections:
Do you support consumer protections for self-pay hospital patients, including those against overbilling?
Would you sign AB 232 (Chan)?
Do you support having hospitals disclose their financial data?
Would you sign AB1627 (Frommer)? AB 1629 (Frommer)?
Do you support disclosing the fiscal solvency of medical groups?
Would you have signed AB1213 (Vargas)?
Do you support requiring prescription drug companies to disclose gifts they give health providers?
Would you have signed AB 103 (Reyes)?
Do you support policies that would shift the cost of health care onto consumers and workers?
Do you support setting standards for HMOs for cultural and linguistically competent care?
Would you sign SB 853 (Escutia)?
Would you set strong, enforceable standards for HMOs to provide timely access to care?
Would you enforce the current laws against HMOs that seek to deny medically necessary care?

Initiatives:
Do you support Proposition 54, an information ban on racial data sponsored by Ward Connerly,
making it harder to investigate and solve public health problems?
Do you support Proposition 53, to further set aside a portion of the budget for infrastructure projects,
furthering reducing funds available for health care and other vital services?
Do you support the Budget Accountability Act to reform the budget process,
to make legislators more accountable for timely and responsible budgets?

For more info, contact Anthony Wright, Executive Director, Health Access California, at 916-442-2308, or awright@health-access.org. Also, check out our website: www.health-access.org.

Labels: Updates

posted by Anthony Wright | Permalink | 8:30 PM


 

HEALTH ACCESS CALIFORNIA ALERT
Tuesday, August 19th, 2003

RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR?
RESOURCES FOR THE OCTOBER 7TH BALLOT


RECALL ELECTION:
With 135 candidates running for Governor, health advocates should be aggressive in asking candidates what their positions on relevant health care issues.

For organizations that will be communicating with those running, ATTACHED is a Health Access California one-page sheet of questions on health policy that all candidates for Governor should answer on pending health care issues, on the subject of the budget crisis, expanding health coverage, consumer and cost protections, and pending initiatives that impact health.


PROPOSITION 54:
Last week, Health Access California re-affirmed its position to strongly OPPOSE Proposition 54, Ward Connerly's Information Ban, which would prohibit state and local governments, public universities, and school districts from collecting or using information about race, ethnicity, color or national origin. Despite an ineffective "health exemption," the initiative would hamper efforts to improve health and reduce the risk of disease in California. We urge all organizations that care about health care to join the opposition to this destructive initiative.

On the opposition to Prop 54, more information is available at: www.informedcalifornia.org. Also ATTACHED is a one-page fact sheet prepared for health advocates by the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (CPEHN). The California HealthCare Foundation has developed a independent web page, at http://www.chcf.org/topics/view.cfm?itemid=21253, which has links to resources in support and opposition.


PROPOSITION 53:
Also last week, the board of Health Access California voted to OPPOSE Proposition 53, which would dedicate a percentage of the state's general fund to infrastructure projects. This would simply further put a budget squeeze on other areas, including health care and other vital services.

The California Budget Project has published a detailed, independent look at the impact of Proposition 53, available at: http://www.cbp.org/2003/bb030813Prop53.pdf. (The CBP website also has a similarly useful brief on Prop 54, as well.)


BUDGET ACCOUNTABILITY ACT:
While much of the recall effort was fueled by discontent about the budget, the result of the recall is most likely not going to improve the budget situation. The problem has been the process, not any one personality. The current budget process allows all players to escape accountability, and fosters the kind of gridlock that we have witnessed the past two years.

Slated not for this ballot but for March 2004, the Budget Accountability Act would reform the budget process to encourage timely and responsible budgets, and would provide the real change that many might be seeking in the current recall. In one of the fastest signature-gathering operations in state history, the campaign to place the Budget Accountability Act on the ballot has collected over 800,000 signatures. We are collecting any last voluteer signatures collected: please submit them ASAP to Californians for Budget Accountability, 1510 J Street, Suite 210, Sacramento, CA 95814. With any question, call 916-443-7817 or the web site at http://www.budgetaccountabilitynow.org/


--
Anthony E. Wright
Executive Director
Health Access
1127 11th St., #234, Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph: 916-442-2308, Fx: 916-497-0921
awright@health-access.org

Labels: Updates

posted by Anthony Wright | Permalink | 8:28 PM


 

Tuesday, August 05, 2003

HEALTH ACCESS ALERT
Tuesday, August 5th, 2003

As Health Access and many other organizations work on policy reforms to expand health coverage, there are on-the-ground efforts to win health benefits for thousands of working families. Advocates are encouraged to support these efforts, most recently with janitors around the state, and casino workers in the Coachella Valley.


CASINO EMPLOYEES: REQUESTING ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT HEALTH CARE FOR WORKING FAMILIES

In the Coachella Valley, most workers at the Agua Caliente casinos cannot afford the family health plan offered by the casino management. As a result, many of the families of the casino employees are forced to use taxpayer funded state programs, which exacerbates the statewide budget and health care crises.

California tribal casino operations are in the midst of negotiations with Governor Davis to obtain thousands more slot machines for their casinos. These new machines will bring hundreds of millions of dollars in additional profits to the casinos, but to receive them the tribes must renegotiate their compacts with the Governor.

The workers at the Agua Caliente casinos, organized by HERE (Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union) Local 309, are in the middle of a public campaign to win family health insurance benefits through enforceable union contracts. They hope to make their health care needs part of the compact negotiations. Organizations are urged to SIGN ON TO A PUBLIC LETTER calling on the tribal casino operators to provide affordable family health insurance to their employees.

ATTACHED are:
* A one-page fact sheet giving background on the issue
* A electronic file of a Los Angeles Times article on this issue
* A public letter that organizations are encouraged to sign-on and fax-back.

Signers of the public letter should fax it to Francis Engler, HERE Local 309, at fax #: 760-325-6238. For questions or more information, call him at (760) 275-3213.


JANITORS: HOLDING THE LINE ON HEALTH BENEFITS AND COSTS

As of this writing, a strike is pending by San Francisco janitors, where the main issue is health care benefits, and the costs associated with such coverage. Earlier this year, janitors in Sacramento and elsewhere were able to win family health coverage for the first time. Below is today's article from the San Francisco Chronicle:

** Mayor offers to mediate
** Janitors' talks stalled over health care issues

George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 5, 2003
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/08/05/BU33178.DTL

A possible strike by 3,000 union janitors who clean 250 downtown San Francisco office buildings was averted for the time being Monday when Mayor Willie Brown offered to serve as a mediator in what have been fruitless contract negotiations.

Representative of the union, the Service Employees International Union, Local 1877, and building owners and cleaning companies that employ the janitors agreed to meet with Brown at City Hall beginning at 11:30 a.m. today.

The workers' contract expired Thursday at midnight. On Saturday they overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike, and a walkout was possible late Monday afternoon in the absence of a new contract offer. A proposal did not materialize, but Brown's intervention put the labor dispute on hold. Janitors went to work Monday evening.

"This is a huge accomplishment," Mike Garcia, the SEIU president, said Monday of Brown's offer to mediate. To a crowd of a few hundred janitors who had marched up Market Street from Justin Herman Plaza to City Hall, he said, "We don't know what will happen tomorrow (in mediation), but we do know the powerful building owners and the mayor are bending to our power and the threat of our strike and want to try to work something out."

Marc Intermaggio, executive vice president of the Building Owners and Managers Association of San Francisco, was more reserved. "We certainly appreciate the mayor's interest in the status of the negotiations and wanting to resolve the issues."

Still, the possibility of a strike looms and could come this evening, labor leaders said. The union janitors clean many major Financial District buildings, including landmarks such as the Embarcadero Center and Transamerica Pyramid.

The two sides appear not far apart, but the union says principle is involved. For 30 years, San Francisco's union janitors have had full employer- paid health care coverage. In this proposed five-year contract, the building owners and cleaning companies would still pay the full premium and deductable for the workers' health care policies, but are asking the workers to pay a $10 doctor's visit co-payment; a $5 co-pay for generic drugs (they currently pay $2), and a $10 co-pay for formulary prescriptions.

The employers would continue to fully fund the janitors' pension, and they are offering a wage increase totaling $1.30 per hour over the five years of the contract.

Most janitors now earn top scale of $15.65 per hour with a total compensation package amounting to $19.65.

"It's more than the burden of a co-pay," Garcia said in an interview. "It's putting more on the backs of the workers, and when that starts, everything starts to crumble. Workers pay more and more and more out of pocket to the point they can no longer afford their health care benefits. That is what we are trying to stop," he said.

Garcia added, "If we accept more of the burden we open the floodgates. We believe we are fighting this fight not only for the janitors of San Francisco, we are fighting this fight for all working people under the burden of rising health care costs in this country."

The $10 co-pay, said Intermaggio, "is an infinitesimal, minimal price to pay for that enormous health care cost, particularly in today's business environment when companies are struggling to stay in business and thus provide jobs for janitors."

Garcia said that Brown told him and union negotiators three weeks ago that he would come in and mediate if talks broke down. "He followed through on his commitment," said Garcia.

As Garcia rallied the rank and file, there was no yielding in his voice. "Are we ready to fight? Are we ready to win?" he bellowed on the steps of City Hall.

In an interview, though, Garcia, who has negotiated nine separate SEIU contracts in recent months across the western United States, said, "We are always willing to negotiate." If the doctor's visit co-payment were reduced or removed, a deal could be struck on the drug co-payment, he suggested.

Throughout negotiations, however, SEIU has been unyielding. "They indicate they will take absolutely no change in their current health care insurance plan," Bob Ford, chief negotiator for the building owners and cleaning companies, said Monday.

Speaking for themselves, janitors said they are prepared to strike if necessary. "Sometimes you reach a point that you have to sacrifice yourself in order to achieve whatever your goal is," said Victor Galvez, a janitor who has cleaned Levi Plaza building for 22 years. "It is not a matter of money. It is justice, respect for the working class."

A number of San Francisco supervisors and other elected officials gave janitors their encouragement at the City Hall rally, including Supervisor Chris Daly, who had a proposal of his own. Should the mediation fail, Daly said he is prepared to introduce legislation that would require San Francisco employers to pay their workers' full health care benefits.

--
Anthony E. Wright
Executive Director
Health Access
1127 11th St., #234, Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph: 916-442-2308, Fx: 916-497-0921
awright@health-access.org

Labels: Updates

posted by Anthony Wright | Permalink | 6:13 PM


 

Friday, August 01, 2003

HEALTH ACCESS UPDATE
Friday, August 1, 2003

* STATE BUDGET TO BE SIGNED SATURDAY
* UPDATE ON THE BUDGET ACCOUNTABILITY ACT
* SB 2 CONFERENCE COMMITTEE & TOWN HALLS SET


* BUDGET BATTLES WON; BUT THE WAR GOES ON

Governor Gray Davis is expected to sign the budget on Saturday, and he is not expected to make significant alterations. We will report on any line-item changes in the health area.

Health advocates should be proud of their accomplishments on the budget. Major health programs have survived no less than four round of cuts in just the last year--including the 2002-03 budget passed in August 2002, two rounds of mid-year cuts in March and April of this year, and now the 2003-04 budget. The Legislature has, in multiple instances, rejected proposals to cut over a million people off of Medi-Cal, and deny needed benefits to millions more.

Because of our collective work, the public now views health care as a top budget priority, right alongside education, in every recent poll. Legislative leaders, such as Assemblywoman Judy Chu, Chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Health, and Senator Wes Chesbro, Chair of the Senate Budget Committee (and Subcommittee on Health), fought valiently against severe cuts, both in hearings and behind the scenes. The majority of both the Senate and Assembly took the courageous step of supporting tax increases to prevent these cuts.

Yet despite these significant victories, our current budget process allows a small minority to block the revenues needed to sustainably prevent these cuts. This has forced late budgets and significant cuts already, including cuts to public hospitals; doctors that serve Medi-Cal patients; the enrollment systems that get children and families covered; and to the number of adults on Medi-Cal, through the requirement of burdensome paperwork. Without revenues, additional major cuts are inevitable.

For health advocates, the stakes for the next year are significant: Either there will be a reckoning that will force the many devastating cuts that have been discussed, or health programs will be in a stronger position for having faced down the threat of a $38 billion deficit.


* A NEW FRONT: ACTION AROUND THE BUDGET ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

The biggest challenge is to reform the budget process that helped create the current system of gridlock. Thankfully, the campaign around the Budget Accountability Act is moving forward well ahead of schedule, already gathering 500,000 of the 600,000 signatures necessary to qualify for the March 2004 ballot.

Those with petitions should submit them by August 8th to Californians for Budget Accountability, 1510 J Street, Suite 210, Sacramento, CA 95814. For more information about how you can help get signatures for this important effort, go to the campaign website, at: http://www.budgetaccountabilitynow.org.

The Budget Accountability Act is a comprehensive reform package to fix the state’s budget process and hold legislators accountable for passing a budget on time. It withholds the Governor’s and legislators’ pay when they don’t pass a budget and makes them stay in town and work on nothing else until they do. It will encourage responsible budget decisions by the legislature, keep voters more informed of how the state spends its funds, hold elected officials accountable for their actions, restrain partisan extremes, ease budget gridlock, and require a real “rainy day” fund to help balance the budget in hard times. Finally, it reduces the vote threshold for legislators to pass a budget from two-thirds to 55%. Only two other states routinely require a two-thirds vote to pass a budget: Rhode Island and Arkansas.


* BEYOND THE BUDGET: CONFERENCE COMMITTEE SET ON HEALTH CARE FOR WORKING FAMILIES

Even before the budget crisis, California had over six million uninsured people, over 80% from working families. Both houses of the California legislature has passed three bills that would comprehensively expand health coverage: SB 2 (Burton/Speier), AB 1527 (Frommer) and AB 1528 (Cohn).

A conference committee has been formed to hammer out details of a final bill, which would require employers to either provide health coverage to their workers and their families, or otherwise pay into a state purchasing pool that would do so. The conference committee includes: Senators John Burton (D-San Francisco), Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco), and Sam Aanestad (R-Redding), and Assemblymembers Dario Frommer (D-Los Angeles), Rebecca Cohn (D-San Jose), and Robert Pacheco (R-City of Industry).

Organizations supporting SB 2, including the California Labor Federation, California Medical Association, Health Access California, and others, are sponsoring town hall meetings around the state to discuss these proposals. Other actions and activities are being planned in other areas as well. ATTACHED is information about town halls in:
* Orange County on August 7th;
* San Diego on August 9th;
* San Francisco on August 14th; and
* Fresno on September 11th.

Another key bill supported by Health Access California, SB921 (Kuehl), to establish a universal, statewide single-payer health system, has passed the Senate and is pending in the Assembly Health Committee, as details are drafted about how the system would be funded. Contact us to find out about actions to build support for these reforms.

--
Anthony E. Wright
Executive Director
Health Access
1127 11th St., #234, Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph: 916-442-2308, Fx: 916-497-0921
awright@health-access.org

Labels: Updates

posted by Anthony Wright | Permalink | 6:47 PM


 

Digging a bigger whole for reform...

 

Scoring at home...

 

We are hiring, to make a difference...

 

Field Poll: strong opposition to the health cuts.....

 

An Unhealthy Trend

 

Dressing up the Individual (Market)

 

A great debate on the great divide...

 

Jones to be chair of Health Committee...

 

Bass on the budget...

 

Pretty soon, the insureable will be a pretty exclu...