The Trip:

I boarded a large, packed bus provided by Single Payer Now at about 10:00 AM from Berkeley, CA, and we arrived at the Capitol a little after noon -- just in time to hear 50 minutes of speechifying by single payer advocates outside on the south steps of the Capitol. Well, at least there was shade, and Senator Mark Leno, the sponsor of the bill, showed up to give a rousing, pleasantly short, oration.

A quick lunch and then it was into the Committee Room for the 1:30 PM hearing. Skipping all the boring procedural details, the Committee soon got to SB 810. Senator Leno gave a short presentation, then four advocates of single-payer testified; one from the California Nurses Association, one from California One Care, one, the owner of a small business, and one other whose organization I have forgotten.

Four spokespeople testified in opposition: One from a California Association of Insurers (boo), one from the Chamber of Commerce (hiss), and another whose organization I have forgotten. The fourth -- and I am not making this up -- attempted to convince the Committee that the Catholic-Protestant problem in Northern Ireland and the difficulty Catholics allegedly have getting heath care there was a serious danger signal to those who would attempt to implement a single-payer system. I doubt that anyone else in the room had any idea of what he was talking about either.

After the 100 support statements I noted above were heard, the vote was taken. Not all the Committee members were there, but Senate Committee rules allow for votes to be recorded long after the roll is called. The result of the initial vote was 4-1 in favor, with five votes needed to pass. Everyone, including Senator Leno, was absolutely convinced that they had the fifth vote and everyone left happily. The one news report I could find on the Committee Hearing states the bill did, indeed, pass the Committee, although the final vote total was not provided. Senator Leno's office just confirmed for me that the bill did officially pass out of committee on a final vote of 5-3.

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Observations:

1. The main thrust of the opposition to the bill was clear: they are now claiming that "the bill is superfluous" in light of the PPACA, the Federal Health Care Reform Bill. They are claiming that insurers and the state have more than enough to do implementing the PPACA; they should not be wasting their time putting together a single-payer system. Rather than opposing the bill outright "on the merits" as it were, they are trying an end-run, hoping to convince California Legislators that they should "wait and see" how the PPACA works out, rather than committing to a "more radical" set of reforms.

2. While there were hundreds of people representing many groups at the Capitol and in the hearing room in support of SB 810, some important constituencies who stand to benefit greatly and/or should have an abiding interest in this legislation did not stand up to be counted:

Self-employed individuals

Small business owners

Religious organizations

Indeed, there was a small business owner who provided testimoy in support as a witness, as I reported, but there was not a person among the hundred who said they represented a small business or were a self-employed person.

There was someone from a group of Unitarians or somesuch, a religious organization, but no one from a mainstream religion like the Catholic Church.. The Catholic Church, after all, does a lot of health care charity work and should be extremely supportive of a bill to provide basic health care services to everyone.

The more broadly-based the constituency for single-payer is, the better chance it has of becoming law. It's that simple.

3. Senator Hernandez, the Committee Chair, apparently had to have his arm twisted to support the bill. The committee hearing, originally scheduled for this week, was postponed until yesterday ostensibly because the Senate Leadership did not have the votes last week -- the crucial missing vote being Hernandez.

Hernandez kept repeating in Committee how much he was in favor of universal health care, but that he had "some concerns". In particular he said, (paraphrasing)

Even if everyone had a card giving them theoretical access to health care now, that wouldn't mean there would be enough doctors and nurses in the poorer areas of our state to actually provide that health care.



And he's right, to a point. Nothing in a single-payer bill, per se, moves health care resources from richer areas of the state to poorer areas of the state. But insofar as it allows health care professionals to charge a fair price to serve those who cannot afford health care on their own, it would certainly seem to lower the financial barriers for those who might consider serving poorer communities.

After voicing this concern, Senator Leno invited Senator Hernandez to join him on the technical committee to help insure that his concerns were addressed, and I see no reason why provisions could not be added to SB 810 to address Hernandez's issues.

4. Of course, the fact that hundreds of people showed up for one day in support -- and no one who wasn't paid to be there showed up in opposition -- means very little in the grand scheme of things. We all know that the insurance companies and the Chamber of Commerce have the one thing that legislators crave and that advocacy groups don't have: money to burn.

It's going to take continued, relentless pressure on legislators from their constituents to keep this bill on track; we can assume no less than that its opposition will stop at nothing to derail it.

HEALTH CARE FOR ALL!

Update

Vermont's single payer health care bill has been passed by both chambers and now heads to the governor's desk -- who is expected to sign it. From PoliticoPro The Vermont House of Representatives passed the final version of a health reform bill that creates Green Mountain Care, a universal, publicly funded health care system. The state Senate passed the same bill on Tuesday. Gov. Peter Shumlin is expected to sign the bill into law within the next two weeks.

http://www.politico.com/...

