State senator shares views for all-inclusive health careState
Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, spoke Tuesday on campus as part
of an event to address problems with the current health care system
in California.
Kuehl is the author of a legislation currently pending in the
State Assembly which aims to provide health care for all California
residents through a single-payer system.
The bill calls for the establishment of one system that covers
all health care needs, including vision, dental and mental health,
and would be funded by tax revenue and government
contributions.
“I really believe that the time has come that we can enact
this. … We are leading the way,” Kuehl said.
“The health care (system) … it’s really in
trouble, both for the insured and the uninsured, for employers
trying to provide coverage, for providers trying to provide care
and for governments trying to provide a safety net,” she
added.
Kuehl said 24 percent of California residents do not have health
insurance. According to the senator, 70 percent of Californians who
do have insurance are underinsured.
“Most people assume that we have the best health insurance
in the world. … that is not a safe assumption,” she
said.
In addition to addressing health care issues relating to
patients, Kuehl also addressed the affect of the current health
care system on businesses and health care providers. According to
Kuehl, doctors suffer under the current health care system by being
uncompensated or undercompensated by insurance companies. Insurance
premium rates, Kuehl said, have also gone up for businesses that
provide health care for their employees.
“˜The result of this rising cost of business has been the
weakening of the competitive position of U.S. products,” she
said.
Kuehl also cited a mismanagement of health care funds and high
administrative costs as a cause of the problem.
“Our problem in the United States is not insufficient
health care funding, it’s how we spend our money,” she
said.
Kuehl did warn that passage of her bill may be challenging.
“We may be in for somewhat of a long haul,” she
said. “We are not going to give up this time.”
The event also featured personal accounts delivered by
individuals who are facing difficulties due to the current health
care system.
One of the speakers, Thomas Garcia Martinez, 33, a husband and
father of two children, said he is in need of a kidney transplant.
Although four donors are ready to donate a kidney to him, lack of
health insurance and a means to pay for the procedure are
obstacles.
“I would like to continue to live so that I can see my
children,” he said.
Students from various universities, including the University of
Southern California and California State University, Los Angeles,
were in attendance.
“I thought she has a really great outlook on the situation
and I hope that she is able to carry it out. It is inspiring, but
at the same time overwhelming to try and get insurance companies to
buy into this,” said Rachel More, a second-year social
welfare graduate student at UCLA.
The event was sponsored by the Social Workers for Social and
Economic Justice, a group of students and faculty from several
universities who are pursuing careers in social work.