State health plan rapped - Universal coverage is unacceptable, California Nurses Association says.

By Jeff St. John
Fresno Bee
April 4, 2007

California's largest nurses union on Tuesday attacked Gov. Schwarzenegger's universal health coverage proposal, calling it unaffordable for most Californians and throwing support behind a competing proposal to bring single-payer coverage to the state.

Schwarzenegger's office dubbed the criticisms from the California Nurses Association as "misleading," saying the governor's $12 billion plan to require all Californians to carry health coverage would stabilize or lower premiums for many residents.

The criticism from the nurses union comes as California legislators wrangle over several competing proposals for covering the state's estimated 4.8 million uninsured people, with competing bills by Democratic and Republican lawmakers under consideration.

Schwarzenegger kicked off the competition in February when he unveiled his proposal, which would combine requirements that all residents carry insurance with mandates that insurance companies no longer deny coverage or increase prices to people for medical reasons.

But the California Nurses Association said the plan would likely force most Californians into bare-bones coverage with deductibles as high as $5,000 to $10,000 -- too high for most people to afford.

The plan also could drive premiums to as high as $7,320 a year per household, the union said, citing costs from a statewide health coverage plan recently implemented in Massachusetts.

The Governor's Office denied the plan would drive up premiums, citing another study from auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers that said the governor's plan would stabilize premiums and reduce health costs for residents.

The nurses union said that instead of Schwarzenegger's plan or proposed bills that incorporate some aspects of it, lawmakers should pass a competing proposal from state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, calling for a single-payer system in which a new state agency pays and manages coverage for all residents.

"If we have enough people out there fighting for a plan that covers our health and not just the insurance companies, we can win," Adrienne Pine, an educator and researcher for the union, said Tuesday in Fresno.

Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill from Kuehl last year, and his spokeswoman said Tuesday that the governor "has the same concerns" this year about Kuehl's bill, Senate Bill 840.

That bill "would put the entire burden on taxpayers, and it's unfunded," spokeswoman Sabrina Lockhart said Tuesday.