Despite the ACA’s advances, we now know insurance “coverage” does not equal health care. Many of us who are insured are constantly worried about whether or not we will be able to get the care we need because we cannot afford the rising premiums, deductibles, co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses being demanded by the perversely profitable health insurance industry.
California legislators, many of them under the influence of Big Pharma and insurance industry donors, now propose to tweak the current system with a package of piecemeal proposals that actually stand to reinforce the very same forces that profit from our suffering. They say as long as Trump is in office this is the best we can do – we’ll worry about cost containment and universal coverage later!
This is not the way forward!
Now is time for California to lead the nation by adopting the expanded and improved Medicare-for-all single-payer healthcare plan proposed by SB 562, the Healthy California Act, sponsored by the California Nurses Association and pending in the California Assembly.
It’s time to create a healthcare system that puts patient needs before insurance industry profits. This election year I will be supporting candidates that are committed to this goal.
Elaine Blumberg resides in San Diego.
