Health Access Archives

The effort for quality, affordable health care for all has a rich history. Health Access is proud to host these comprehensive electronic archives of key campaigns and moments.

2009-10 Federal Health Reform: This archive includes materials developed during the effort to secure passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This historic health care reform legislation will provide security and stability to those with health care coverage, and new, affordable options for those that don't. When fully implemented in 2014, the bill has the potential of reducing the number of uninsured Americans by 32 million, and preventing people from becoming uninsured due to a loss of income, being between jobs, or due to health status.

2007 California "Year of Health Reform"/AB x1 1: This archive includes materials from the development of AB x1 1, a comprehensive health reform negotiated by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. While it stalled in January 2008, the content and context provides lessons for future reform efforts in California and nationwide. It also includes materials related to earlier versions of that measure, including AB 8 (Nunez), SB 48 (Perata) and the Governor's original proposals, and from Health Access and Its Our Healthcare, a major consumer campaign working to pass health reform that year.

Prop 78/79 Archive: This archive is from Proposition 79, endorsed by major health, senior, and consumer advocates, would have used the purchasing power of the state to leverage enforceable discounts from the prescription drug companies. Both Propositions 79 and 78, a countermeasure by the drug companies, were voted down along with every other measure on the November 2005 special election ballot. Consumer groups persisted: the following year, a compromise measure, AB 2911(Nunez/Perata) was passed by the California legislature and signed into law.

SB 2/Prop 72: SB 2 (Burton), to ensure that employees get basic health coverage on the job and to expand such coverage to a million more workers, was passed and signed into law in 2003. This "pay or play" law was placed up for referendum by restaurant and other employer groups on the November 2004 ballot. This archive includes fact sheets and materials from the legislation and from the initiative campaign. While it was defeated by a razor-thin vote of 49.2% to 50.8%, the effort built momentum for subsequent health reform efforts, including the successful Healthy San Francisco reform.

Health Care Options Project: This archive has preserved the work of the California Health and Human Services Agency and the California State Library under SB 480 (Solis), a 1999 law to examine options for providing health care coverage to Californians. In 2001-02, the state solicited numerous proposals for expanded coverage and comprehensive reform, and had consultants provide analysis of these plans. The archives include both the plans and the analyses. The Health Care Options Project was helpful is restarting broader health reform discussions from the early 1990s, prompting the introduction of single-payer and pay-or-play health reforms.