Business leaders get earful about healthcare bills
Getting children covered is priority No. 1
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

More than 1.5 million California children are without healthcare insurance, and the state may enact legislation this year to change this fact, experts told business, county and city leaders last week at a healthcare reform seminar in Camarillo.

In Ventura County that means 27,000 children, the equivalent of 771 classrooms, do not have medical coverage, said Chuck Maxey, a dean and business professor at Cal Lutheran University.

The problem centers on a lack of affordable healthcare insurance for blue-collar workers and their dependents- for example, people who work in the service-related industry, such as agriculture, retail and construction, he said.

People with a higher level of education tend to have jobs that provide better healthcare coverage, he said.

While public programs are helping to some extent, they can't provide all the services the uninsured need, he said.

"(Being) uninsured is probably a problem of the working poor," Maxey said. "Why don't we fix the underlying problem; that will help us."

Kelly Brooks, legislative director for the California State Association of Counties, briefly outlined the four healthcare reform bills under discussion in Sacramento.

"There's a lot of excitement and interest in Sacramento that there's going to be something done on healthcare coverage this year," she said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposes providing medical coverage for all children regardless of immigration status and adults who are legal residents at a cost of about $12 billion.

Brooks said county funds and fees imposed on doctors and hospitals would finance part of the billion-dollar price tag but that administration officials acknowledge some groups will fall between the coverage cracks, such as those with temporary work visas.

Another unanswered question is if people with preexisting health conditions will be covered, Brooks said.

Under Assembly Bill 8, proposed by Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) and Don Perata (DOakland), employers of any size would be required to provide employees and their dependents with healthcare coverage by paying into an insurancepurchasing pool, Brooks said. The cost is unknown, she said.

And while state legislators have yet to resolve the budget, Brooks said she wonders if anger over its resolution will influence the bill's fate. The bill is awaiting a hearing by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

"I think it will be a pretty intense discussion in August," Brooks said.

More supporters show up at the state capitol when Senate Bill 840, the so-called Single Payer plan, is being discussed than for any other proposal, Brooks said.

The bill from Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) would cover all California residents and require the state to set up a single system for all federal healthcare payments, potentially eliminating Medi-Cal and the Healthy Families Program.

The state Assembly Health Committee passed the bill in July, and it awaits a hearing by Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Both Assembly Bill 1, by John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), and Senate Bill 32, by Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), would provide healthcare coverage to all California children whose family income was 300 percent or below the federal poverty level. Adults would be excluded from coverage, however.

Neither bill has identified a dedicated revenue source to pay the $300-million price tag, Brooks said. The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to hear both bills.

Sandra Berg, Pleasant Valley School board trustee, said after the seminar that because students and employee groups would be affected, the district is very interested in the issue of healthcare reform.

In addition, the board wants to offer better medical coverage to employees and as a means for recruiting new teachers, she said.

"It's important that we know what's going on legislatively," Berg said. "If we remain silent, then we deserve what we get. We've got to have a voice in this discussion too."

David Maron, owner of a small software business in Camarillo, said he wouldn't oppose legislation that required employers to provide medical coverage as long as it applies to his competitors as well.

Employees with adequate medical coverage are more likely to take better care of their health and report to work regularly since they and their families would be sick less often, he said.

"You're going to have to pay now or pay later," Maron said.