As other articles in this issue have pointed out, Single Payer is not going away… It’s basically on a short-term hold, waiting for the November elections results.
Single Payer Update—November, 2018
By: Dorothy Cociu, RHU, REBC, GBA, RPA, OCAHU V.P Communications and Public Affairs
In the meantime, I thought I would provide you with some information to give to fellow agents and our employer clients during this temporary lull in the single payer movement.
CAHU has provided us with a lot of tools to help fight SB 562 and other single payer initiatives. I’d like to print some of these helpful tools in the COIN this issue, to remind you that they are available when we need them. First, there is a sample letter to legislators that you can give to your employer clients to send out… The elections will be just days after this issue comes out… We may need some of these tools right away if certain elections go against our industry’s wants/desires/needs… So I’m anticipating you may be grasping for things to tell your clients or share with them if that happens…
SAMPLE EMPLOYER LETTER
(PUT ON LETTERHEAD)
(INSERT DATE)
Dear Senator:
I am a constituent and an employer in your district and OPPOSE SB 562 (LARA and ATKINS) that seeks to establish a $400 Billion government-run universal single payer health care bureaucracy that is paid for in large part by employers and will result in significant California job losses.
The State Senate estimates SB 562 will cost at least $400 Billion per year, with a minimum of $50-$100 Billion in new payroll taxes with no cap on the wages subject to the new tax. Though the financing mechanism for this measure has not yet been specified, past legislative attempts at government run health care have proposed major increases in payroll and income taxes on businesses and individuals. Payroll tax increases would lead to thousands of job layoffs as existing business and employers would be forced to cut costs in order to meet the new tax burdens caused by SB 562. As a result of this bill, California would have the highest state taxes in the United States, forcing business to relocate out-of-state.
Universal government-run health care system funds must compete with other claims on government funding, such as education, welfare, water, transportation and infrastructure. With limited public funds, whatever the government can’t pay for will be on the backs of employers and employees. California should not impose such an unfair burden on California employers, which hinders my ability to fairly compete in the marketplace, whether that is in California or other states and globally.
I believe that you, as my elected representative, should instead focus on positive changes to reduce the cost of health care services, reduce the costs to doing business in California, and OPPOSE adding a new $400 Billion government dispensed universal single payer health care programs that will burden the remaining business in California.
Please vote “NO” on SB 562 (LARA and ATKINS) each time it comes before you for a vote.
Next, I’d like to print the SB 562 talking points that CAHU has published on it’s website for our use…
TALKING POINTS
SB 562 would establish a state-run single-payer health care system. All Californians will lose their current health plans, to be replaced by government run health care, with benefits yet to be determined, to be serviced by a government-run entity populated with political appointees yet to be identified, to include provisions yet to be named – all paid for by a doubling of your annual tax bill.
SB 562 forces California businesses and individuals to hand over at least $107 Billion in new state taxes per year to pay for a government run health care system. Economic analyses estimate it will take $400 Billion annually, more than double the annual state budget, to set up and operate single payer as set out in SB 562. At a time when California has recovered somewhat from the Great Recession, and residents were just mandated to pay $69 billion in higher taxes for long-neglected education, water and transportation infrastructure repairs and upgrades, SB 562 will harm residents with a limitless price tag and no guarantee of better health care for anyone.
HERE IS WHY
- Single-payer mandates a government-run monopoly on all health care services in California. It eliminates all private insurance, Medicare, Medi-Cal, Long Term Care, Covered California, and the valuable advocacy services of insurance professionals and advisors.
- By eliminating employer-paid health coverage, single-payer shifts health care costs to employees.
- Single-payer will increase taxes for businesses and individuals by at least $107 Billion annually.
- A single-payer system like that laid out in SB 562 makes California less attractive to doctors and health care providers. Our best providers would leave the state, and new providers would have no incentive to practice in California.
- Single-payer puts an estimated 540,000 of Californian’s workforce on the unemployment line.
- By giving Californians the highest state taxes in America and making California a less attractive place to do business, business will likely leave the state.
- While single-payer plans offer all citizens some kind of medical insurance, they cannot guarantee access to medical care.
- While SB 562 proponents claim “You can keep your doctor”, the reality is that providers cannot be forced to participate in single payer.
- SB 562 as drafted has no realistic mechanism to control health care costs, fraud or abuse of medical services, as a result health care costs will skyrocket.
- Single-payer ultimately controls costs by rationing health care. Citizens in countries with single-payer models often wait months to see a doctor or specialist or to receive much-needed medical treatment.
- Single-payer means zero choices for consumers, discourages creativity, efficiency, quality, innovation and advancements in medical care.
- In government-run health care systems there is never enough money to provide timely care or the latest technology. That’s because health care funds have to compete with other claims on government funds, such as education, welfare, water and transportation infrastructure.
- There is no guarantee that proponents will be successful in obtaining $225 Billion in federal waivers, if they do not, more taxes will be needed from all Californians to meet that $225 Billion shortfall in funding.
- There are at least three separate issues that need voter approval to address state constitutional barriers. These include Prop 98 Education Funding mandates, the Gann Budget Limit and Prop 30 from 2012 that guarantees certain funding to counties.
Single-payer initiatives have failed in every state, including Vermont and Colorado, due to the multi-billion dollar price tag. Most Californians want the legislature to focus on positive changes to reduce the cost of health care and to provide for a competitive health insurance marketplace in a public/private partnership.
Let’s hope we don’t need any of these tools, but if we do, we hope this is helpful! ##
Editor’s Note: Please check the CAHU website regularly at www.cahu.org!
