California’s health care system is broken. Nearly 6.5 million Californians – almost 1 out of every 5 Californians – have no health insurance at all. Those Californians who do have insurance are required to pay far too much only to receive inadequate care and minimal coverage in return.

At present, there are more than 6,000 health insurance providers in California jockeying for billions of dollars in health care profits that could be better spent on providing affordable access for patient treatment, preventative care, and low-cost prescriptions that – in the long term – will reduce overall health care costs.

We must overhaul this failed “system” with a comprehensive strategy to reign in skyrocketing costs and redirect the dollars currently spent by employers, workers, individuals, and the state to finance a plan that makes health care affordable, covers everyone in our state, and provides Californians with the freedom to choose their health care providers.

Senate Bill 840 – the Single-Payer Universal Health Care Act – embodies such a comprehensive plan. I am proud to be a principal co-author and dedicated proponent of Senator Shelia Kuehl’s bill today just as I have been for the past five years.

SB 840 ensures all Californians will receive the health care they need and deserve regardless of pre-existing conditions or job status, and it accomplishes this with less than 4% of total expenditures going to administrative costs.

As the eighth largest economy in the world, California is uniquely positioned to lead the rest of the nation – as we have before on other crucial issues – in providing an accessible health care system that covers all of its residents at lower overall costs. Please join me in this important fight. Together, we can build the health care system our Golden State deserves.

Here is a sample of some of the health care related bills I am currently working on in the state Assembly. I've also listed past legislation from previous years. For a complete review of my state legislative record, please visit http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.

2007

AB 1669: SF Trauma Recovery Center This bill would ensure funding for the San Francisco Trauma Recovery Center which provides critical services to crime victims suffering from severe economic, psychological and other trauma-related symptoms.

AB 1201: Collective Bargaining for Direct Care Nurses This bill would ensure that California’s direct care nurses preserve their collective bargaining rights, thereby preserving their rights under their existing contracts to challenge hospital staffing and effectively advocate for quality health care for their patients.

2006

AB 50: Trauma Recovery Center AB 50 provides $1.3 million for fiscal year 2006-07 from the $100 million surplus in the Restitution Fund of the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board for the continued funding of the Trauma Recovery Center at San Francisco General Hospital.

AB 2280: Improved HIV Test Counseling This bill directs the Department of Health Services to establish a new HIV counseling model that allows clinics to increase the number of people getting HIV tests and appropriately reimburses clinics for the services provided.

AB 2384: Healthy Food Purchase Pilot Program AB 2384 requires the California Department of Health Services to develop and implement a Healthy Food Purchase Pilot Program that will improve access and affordability of fresh fruits and vegetables for food stamp recipients in low-income communities. AB 2968: Assisted Living Waiver This bill creates a designated Medi-Cal reimbursement rate structure for community living support services in San Francisco that assist beneficiaries who would otherwise be homeless, living in shelters or institutionalized. In this way, it expands community-based options for beneficiaries who would otherwise require or be at high-risk of requiring more costly institutional care.

2005

AB 631: Mobile Methadone Treatment MediCal Reimbursement San Francisco’s mobile methadone maintenance treatment program is the first of its kind in California, operating since March 2003 in close cooperation with the state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs. The program is highly effective in treating the City’s estimated 15,000 to 17,000 heroin addicts by taking the services directly to where they reside in neighborhoods throughout the City. As a pilot, the program is not formally licensed, and thus not eligible for MediCal reimbursement. This bill would create a category of licensure for mobile methadone maintenance treatment programs to facilitate MediCal reimbursement for services, thereby encouraging its financial viability.

2004

AB 1796: Food Stamps Eligibility Federal law currently prohibits individuals with a prior drug conviction from receiving federally funded food stamps. States have the ability to opt-out of this prohibition and 31 states have chosen to do so. This measure would opt-out California, making state eligible to receive this type of federal food stamp funding. Denying public assistance is a significant barrier to successful re-entry into society to formerly incarcerated persons. Food assistance helps individuals attempting to reintegrate into society to better use their scarce economic resources.

AB 2660: Pharmacists This measure would require pharmacists to register with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, who would recognize these pharmacists as "Mid-level Practitioners". These pharmacists will then be able to provide regular and timely pain management care to those in need of end-of-life care.

2003

AJR 13: Medical Cannabis Resolution Based on a letter signed by 50 state legislators, this resolution urges Congress to pass legislation that secures a state’s right to regulate medical cannabis and allows individual patients to possess and consume medical cannabis, and allows individuals deputized by states and localities to cultivate and distribute medical cannabis appropriately.

AB 685: HIV Rapid Test This bill would exempt certain HIV counselors from the training requirements that currently prohibit them from administering a new HIV rapid test. The test offers same-day results and would reduce the number of people who do not return to pick up their results or learn their HIV status.