Day Ten

Most in California would argue that the Federal Exchanges coming about in 2014 are sufficient and why mess with something that is going to work. That is like betting on a horse you have groomed and are promised a win from. In my rational world that is fool hardy speculation.

Massachusetts said lets create our own race track, our own horses, and let the Federal Program when it comes in to manage the finances.

California simply cannot wait for the phone to ring, but must act with prudence and surety that we will embark on a states rights universal health insurance program. Universal health insurance will enable the healthy worker and reduce unemployment; increasing consumer confidence. All a ripe recipe for success and reducing the wicked problems in society. Again this is a moral imperative.

The danger in not doing anything, will be trusting that the Federal Program will be in place successfully in three years. A lot can happen in three years. Are we to be fools?

Milton Freedman precepts on sustainability and the idea of Commonwealth type insurance care in California or as I have dubbed it The Golden State Care.

Does this make lives better?

• Workers: Costs go down per employee for the same level of healthcare, no more deductable limits making fully engaged health care. Less out of pocket expenses for the average worker.

• Employers: Costs go down for same level of healthcare, healthier employees due to no deductable limits. Costs go down because more people are subscribed into the insurance companies.

• Small Business Owners: Costs at a level they can afford to offer insurance as a benefit thereby can attract from a larger pool of employment candidates, helps to level the playing field. Unemployment reduces, consumer confidence rises and with low inflation the great society is back running at full steam again making real estate values increase at a normal pace where today the status quo is depressed real estate values statewide.

• Unemployed: Sliding scale to zero cost based on income levels. Cost to pay for this are born out of the savings seen in non emergency room payments and from the Federal Government paying into the system as it is with Commonwealth Care in Massachusetts.

• Homeless: They will get a level of care that is no longer rationed, and are helped with becoming healthier gotten off of substance abuse and put into welfare to work training to become employable. Again this cost will be born out of savings seen above and from Federal payments as above.

• Immigrants: Same holds true as with the poor above as with any immigrant they must get into the system to use health care services and huge amounts of savings are seen as now the payments are reconciled properly. Push for citizenship by offering incentives in the health care at this level.

• Insurance Companies: Having a larger pool of people by an increase of about seven million, will make their bottom line manageable, as insurance risk and premium cost is a direct function of the population of the pool of insured individuals.

Is there equal pay parity between classes of people?

• There is complete equality here amongst all people of the state ensuring 14th amendment rights are preserved for all people and that the precept of equal protection under the law is preserved.

Free market?

• The insurance companies will flourish with free market functionality under acceptable limits of insurance invoicing as currently defined under the Insurance Commissioners purview. Free markets for a much larger pool of insured will enable healthy competition and price stabilization. It is the notion that we currently are in where there is an artificial market created that is functionally small that leads to spiraling of costs. The market is not free in our current design and has led to costs that are no longer affordable for a whole host of local governments, employers have to seek out inflationary pricing structures to justify the spiraling costs, in short what we have now is the perfect storm of economic non sustainability and is why we see taxes looming on the horizon and why layoffs and department reorganization are happening. We do nothing be prepared for out of sight insurance premiums, with our status quo systems.