Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you tonight. I have a packet of information that I want to distribute to the board that includes more detailed information about single payer, how to determine cost savings, and how it compares with “the Leadership bill” now in the State Legislature. In the few minutes I have been given, it is my intention to begin the discussion about single payer health care as a real fix for the current crisis we are facing in the delivery and cost of health care. Tonight I will be discussing SB 840, a single payer health care bill currently in the California State Legislature.
I want to begin by providing a brief definition of what single payer health care is and what it is not. Included in this will be how it will benefit all Californians by providing equitable, affordable, and quality health care to all residents of California. And finally, I want to outline how it will save the district a lot of money.
What single payer is: The term single payer describes the funding mechanism for health care services. Literally, all services and expenses are paid from a single pot of money made up of contributions from existing sources of federal health care money, as well as, employer and employee contributions through payroll taxes. This is quite different than the current way health care goods and services are paid. Currently, in California, there are over 15,000 different health care coverage plans, which, individually collect premiums, co-pays and deductibles, from which they pay the providers of health care services. Each has a different set of covered services, different set of paperwork for billing, and different levels of coverage. With s/p there is only one plan – a extremely rich and comprehensive set of benefits, only one set of paperwork sent to only place for reimbursement, and only level of coverage. Single payer SB 840 provides universal coverage to all residents of California, regardless of their level of employment, age, income, or existing health problems. As you can see from the Fact Sheet, SB 840 provides coverage for all needed medical services, as well as, medications, health education, dental services, vision services, skilled nursing care, and many other benefits. It is by far, a much richer benefit package than the usual Gold Standard, CALPERS. In addition, single payer, SB 840 allows for full choice of providers.
What single payer isn’t: Single payer health care is not “socialized medicine”, as Gov. Schwartznegger mischaracterized SB840 when he vetoed it last year. Under socialized medicine, health care providers and workers are employed by the government. Under single payer they remain privately employed. Under socialized medicine, hospitals and clinics are publicly owned. Under single payer, hospitals and clinics will remain as they are today, some private, some public. None of that will change. The only thing that will change will be that everyone will be covered from cradle to grave, and there will be little need for the existence of health insurers, the people who are currently in business to make a profit by denying coverage, who spend nearly 30% of every healthcare dollar on administrative overhead, high executive salaries, advertising, and share holder profits. Under single payer, there is no need for insurance companies. Everyone has the same plan, the same medication list, has access to all needed services, and can never again go bankrupt from medical expenses. They get the care they need regardless of their income. They contribute to the pot proportionately to their income (3.78% of wages above $7,000). Beyond that they pay nothing, no co-pays, no deductibles, no nothing.
Finally, the enactment of a single payer bill will save the district a lot of money. Numerous studies have been performed that show that single payer health care will save billions of dollars while also guaranteeing comprehensive coverage for everyone. My organization, Health Care for All – California, commissioned the Lewin Group to do a financial analysis of SB 840 in 2005. In your packet is a fact Sheet of their findings. Overall, SB 840 would save California $8 billion in the first year by replacing the multiple insurers we currently have with one insurance plan. This will save about $20 billion in administrative costs. In addition, huge savings (about $5.2 billion) will be realized by the bulk purchasing power of the state to negotiate prices on medications and durable medical equipment. This is the very reason that Canada is able to buy prescription medications for so much less than the U.S.
In your packet is a simple instruction sheet to allow you to calculate the savings your district will realize under a single payer system. When you plug in the numbers, you will be able to see exactly how much you will save from your current spending, and still provide an extremely rich benefit package to your employees. Instead of the steady rise in premium costs that everyone has been experiencing in the past 10 years, SB 840 contains cost controls that will prevent such excessive spending.
Now that you have been given a general description of single payer, its extremely comprehensive benefit package, and the money that the district could save, I hope that you will continue this discussion with the board and the teachers, and conclude that you want to endorse SB 840.
Thank you.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Welcome back!
Dear Colleagues: August/September
On August 28, 44 years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech at- the-time in the largest nonviolent demonstration in our nation’s history.
In the spirit of that dream, we, the Progressive Teachers of UTR, have prepared this Open Letter to all fellow members in our union, United Teachers of Richmond, for three reasons: to introduce ourselves, note critical issues UTR teachers face this year, and to invite your active participation in strengthening our union, whose sole purpose is to ensure our needs and rights as professionals are met and to serve the needs of the children in our communities.
In the spirit of that dream, we, the Progressive Teachers of UTR, have prepared this Open Letter to all fellow members in our union, United Teachers of Richmond, for three reasons: to introduce ourselves, note critical issues UTR teachers face this year, and to invite your active participation in strengthening our union, whose sole purpose is to ensure our needs and rights as professionals are met and to serve the needs of the children in our communities.
Who we are: We are a group of activist, dues-paying proactive UTR leaders, former UTR Executive Board members, in elementary, middle and high schools who came together seven years ago because of the lack of priorities for quality education reform from our local leadership, and the lack of federal funding for public education. We believe our UTR leadership, WCCUSD administration, and teachers should be sufficiently accountable for their actions. We are committed to raising public awareness, and providing divergent input that leads to greater quality education for all students and inclusion for every member. To that end some of us are also at-large members in the CFT, California Federation of Teachers and pay an additional $100 a year in union dues, and consult with CFT on leadership training and development.
- Some of our accomplishments include:
Negotiations training for teachers; conducting a community forum on NCLB; - Organizing with the March4Education, in a 70-mile march to the State Capitol in Sacramento for forgiveness of our 1991 state loan; draw attention to inequities between prison and education funding; more state funding for WCCUSD
- 10% of our members participated in a petition drive for UTR election reform to use a Scantron in all UTR balloting;
- Last April, we co-sponsored an NCLB Community Forum with Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin’s office and the March4Education;
- Last May’s rep council meeting, we added the strike authorization vote;
- In 2005, we held a forum, “Understanding K-12 Budgets,” for teachers and the larger community; we have and continue to work with Justice Matters, a research and policy advocacy group focused on racial justice in education
Current Issues:
Between 2001 and 2007 members have felt disenfranchised; the policy-making body Representative Council's authority has been decimated; members critical of UTR leaders have experienced their jobs being threatened; involuntary and administrative transfers increased; Curriculum and instruction has been colonized by high-stakes testing (e.g., NCLB), inappropriate assessments... Our union must be democratic, not oligarchic... Dissents is the mother of democracy. Progressive Teachers believes it is imperative that rumors and backbiting have no place in union communications. In the 2007 UTR election we ran a campaign that reflects members' interests. Our plans include visiting all school sites to inform about Rep Council actions and CTA/NEA developments, educate, communicating with members via newsletter, forums, and the Internet.
Invitation: For more information, and to join us in taking full ownership of the union for which we each pay a thousand dollars a year dues.
____________________________________________________________________
Union Pride
Labor Day is a time to celebrate union pride. Celebrate the American everyday working people who make this nation great, and the heroes that brought you the weekend…
What is a union?
A union is a group of workers who form an organization to gain:
• Respect on the job,
• Better wages and benefits,
• More flexibility for work and family needs,
• A counterbalance to the unchecked power of employers, and
• A voice in improving the quality of their products and services
¿Qué es un sindicato?
Un sindicato, o unión, o gremio,
es una organización integrada por
un grupo de trabajadores que se
unen para obtener:
_ Respeto en el trabajo;
_ Mejores salarios y beneficios;
_ Más flexibilidad en el trabajo
para poder atender necesidades
de la familia;
_ Un contrapeso al poder sin control
de los empleadores; y
_ Una opinión para mejorar la calidad
de sus productos y servicios.
Labor Day is a time to celebrate union pride. Celebrate the American everyday working people who make this nation great, and the heroes that brought you the weekend…
What is a union?
A union is a group of workers who form an organization to gain:
• Respect on the job,
• Better wages and benefits,
• More flexibility for work and family needs,
• A counterbalance to the unchecked power of employers, and
• A voice in improving the quality of their products and services
¿Qué es un sindicato?
Un sindicato, o unión, o gremio,
es una organización integrada por
un grupo de trabajadores que se
unen para obtener:
_ Respeto en el trabajo;
_ Mejores salarios y beneficios;
_ Más flexibilidad en el trabajo
para poder atender necesidades
de la familia;
_ Un contrapeso al poder sin control
de los empleadores; y
_ Una opinión para mejorar la calidad
de sus productos y servicios.
Friday, July 20, 2007
On Social Justice
The goal of social justice education is full and equal participation of all groups in a society that is mutually shaped to meet their needs. Social justice includes a vision of society in which:
...Developing a social justice process in a society steeped in oppression is no small feat. For this reason we need clear ways to define and analyze oppression so that we can understand how it operates at various individual, cultural, and institutional levels.
...We use the term oppression rather than discrimination, bias, prejudice, or bigotry to emphasize the pervasive nature of social inequality woven throughout social institutions as well as embedded within individual consciousness.
...We look the existence of a dominant or agent group and (a) subordinate or target group(s) in each form of power and privilege that are dynamic features of oppression, whatever its particular form, e.g., racism, sexism, heterosexism, class ism).
Adapted from "Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice," edited by Maurianne Adams, Lee Anne Bell, and Pat Griffin
- distribution of resources is equitable
- all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure
- individuals are both self-determining (able to develop their full capacities) and interdependent (capable of interacting democratically with others)
- individuals have a sense of their own agency [identity, worth, value] as well as a sense of social responsibility
...Developing a social justice process in a society steeped in oppression is no small feat. For this reason we need clear ways to define and analyze oppression so that we can understand how it operates at various individual, cultural, and institutional levels.
...We use the term oppression rather than discrimination, bias, prejudice, or bigotry to emphasize the pervasive nature of social inequality woven throughout social institutions as well as embedded within individual consciousness.
...We look the existence of a dominant or agent group and (a) subordinate or target group(s) in each form of power and privilege that are dynamic features of oppression, whatever its particular form, e.g., racism, sexism, heterosexism, class ism).
Adapted from "Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice," edited by Maurianne Adams, Lee Anne Bell, and Pat Griffin
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