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NewsBriefs. Sept 2006 9/1/06 12:13 PM Page 6 NewsBriefs NURSES, ACTIVISTS PUSH GOVERNOR TO SIGN HISTORIC BILL GIVING HEALTHCARE TO ALL CALIFORNIANS ill he step up and do the right thing? Or will he cave to the insurance and pharmaceutical companies that bankroll his campaigns? That's the question registered nurses, healthcare activists, and observers nationwide are thinking about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as an unprecedented bill that would guarantee healthcare based on a single standard of quality care for every Californian moves out of the state Legislature in late August and onto his desk for signature or veto. "A bill like this is reaching the governor's desk for the first time in California history," told Elizabeth Pataki, RN and CNA/NNOC board member to SB 840 supporters at a rally Aug. 30 in Sacramento. CNA/NNOC, the lead sponsor of the bill, held the rally with the author, Sen. Sheila Kuehl, to announce its impending passage from the Legislature and to increase public pressure on the Governor to sign it. "We're just one signature away from taking a huge leap toward a modernized healthcare system," Kuehl told the crowd. "If he vetoes the bill, the people of California should hang 'bad healthcare' like an albatross around this neck." If Schwarzenegger signs SB 840, also called the California Healthcare Reliability Act, the state would be the first in the nation to ensure that every resident has comprehensive health insurance. The legislation and rally couldn't have been better timed. Just the day before, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the number of uninsured Americans had grown for the sixth straight year to 46.6 million in 2005, meaning nearly 1 in 6 people had no insurance for some part of the year. Nearly 1 in 5 Californians, or almost 7 million, are uninsured. Those numbers do not even include the numbers of Americans who are underinsured and would be stuck with massive W healthcare bills even with some type of insurance coverage. Aug. 30 was also the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, an event that exposed not only the country's inability to provide emergency medical care to its residents, but also storm survivors' lack of access to healthcare. SB 840 would establish a single-payer healthcare system for California that covers everyone and saves money by eliminating insurance company administrative, billing, and overhead expenses. Funding for the system would still need to be approved by the Legislature, but according to projections by an independent healthcare analysis firm, a model on which SB 840 is based could reduce the $186 billion currently spent on healthcare in California while insuring every resident at a high level of coverage. In recent CALIFORNIA 6 REGISTERED NURSE W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G surveys, a majority of Americans have said that they support a national healthcare system where everyone is automatically covered. Not surprisingly, insurance companies, HMOs, and pharmaceutical corporations that benefit from the current system oppose such legislation. Carole Detherage is one of the hundreds Speak Up! Tell the Governor to sign SB 840 so every Californian can have the healthcare we all deserve. Phone calls are most effective, so please pick up the phone and dial (916) 445-2841. Let the Governor know you are a registered nurse member of CNA/NNOC and want him to sign SB 840. SEPTEMBER 2006