Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger has revealed an ambitious plan to reform the state’s health care system. He wants everyone to be convered by insurance. California has 6.5 million uninsured citizens, nearly one in five of the state’s 36.5 million inhabitants.
Speaking about his plan for the first time via a video link to a meeting of healthcare stakeholders, Governor Schwarzenegger said this was not a question of whether everyone should be covered, the legislation already says they must, but a matter of how to pay for it. He is proposing to spread the cost among individuals, businesses, insures, government, and healthcare providers.
Under his scheme, all citizens will have to be insured, with the poorest being helped through subsidies. One of the biggest shocks will come to the small and medium business sector, where those employing 10 people or more will either have to offer insurance to their employees or pay 4 per cent of their payroll to a state scheme. Hospitals will also have to pay 4 per cent of their income, and doctors 2 per cent.
Schwarzenegger is hoping that by revealing his plan, it will create a “bipartisan, cooperative dialogue” on how to realise the much needed health care reform. He was planning to make his speech in person but was recovering from a skiing accident where he broke his leg.
The US annual health care bill is 2 trillion dollars. This equates to 6,300 dollars per citizen and 16 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). National expenditure on health care is rising three times faster than the rate of inflation. In 2004, the latest year for which national data is available, it went up 7.9 per cent. Nearly one in six Americans has no health insurance.
Mr Schwarzenegger may be ruffling a few feathers, but he is not alone. The National Coalition on Health Care (NCHC), a non-partisan body that represents the views of 100 organizations and 150 million Americans from large and small businesses, academia, health, government and religion, has three major concerns about the US health care system: quality, cost and the large numbers of uninsured people. It proposes what it calls a “social policy goal” of health care coverage for all as a means to assure quality, simplify the system, control costs and improve the health of the average American.
As with all these things, declaring a goal is one thing, the devil however, is in the detail. It’s in the planning, implementation and enforcement that the Governor’s commitment and grit will be strongly tested. His supporters have no doubt that he “will be back”. But we’ll have to wait and see how the plot unfolds and whether any sequels are planned.
Click here to go to the National Coalition on Health Care (US)
Written by: Catharine Paddock
Writer: Medical News Today