Re: your Sept. 1 article, “Health insurance reform bill sent to governor�:
History was made when SB840, universal healthcare, passed the California Legislature. While the Senate had voted in favor of the bill previously, this was the first time the Assembly had approved single-payer healthcare coverage. As we continue to suffer from an ailing, failing healthcare system, where is our Assembly representative, Audra Strickland? She was one of the few to vote "no."
It is anticipated that this plan will cost less, yet provide superior healthcare to Californians, with individual choice of physicians. The bill asks for no funding as written. It simply would establish a commission of experts from various fields to delve even more deeply into the details.
Currently, those who can pay, primarily insurance companies, bear a disproportionate share of the cost of care for those who cannot pay. The quality of care suffers for everyone, as emergency facilities are crowded with those who have become critically ill because they felt they could not afford to seek medical intervention at the inception of their illness or injury. Obviously, this situation causes unnecessary suffering and even deaths.
We need someone in the Assembly who will represent us, the citizens, who will listen to us and carry our message to Sacramento. Fortunately, such a person is running for this position in the 37th Assembly District: Ferial Masry. I urge you to vote for Masry in November.
— Penny Strowger, Thousand Oaks
Leave a comment