Health Care Bill to Aid Working Families

• The bill is being called ABx1 1
• It will provide insurance to two thirds of the state's uninsured
• The state will provide subsidies or tax credits to families who cannot afford insurance
• Virtually everyone will be required to have health insurance
• Insurance companies will have to provide insurance regardless of any pre-existing medical condition
• Employers will be required to provide coverage or pay a percentage of payroll into a state fund

• Having a job and working hard no longer guarantees healthcare. Over 80% of California’s 6.5 million uninsured are members of working families.
• Businesses are struggling to provide healthcare and many are dropping coverage. According to the UC Labor Center, only 57% of the population received coverage through their employers in 2004, down from 59% in 2000.
• Costs keep increasing. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, healthcare costs increased 123% between 1990 and 2004, far more than inflation, economic growth, or wages.
• Preventive care is eroding as more people are forced into high-deductible, catastrophic plans and can't afford to take care of basic health needs.
• As individuals and businesses struggle, drug companies and some insurance giants like Blue Cross spend millions to stop reform because they profit from our current, flawed system.

• It will need approval by the Senate, which may modify it.
• Will then need to be signed by the Governor.
• Then approval by voters, because it includes tax increases. More than 1 million signatures will have to be collected to place it on the November 2008 ballot.

• AB x1 1 is an historic step forward. AB x1 1 will provide healthcare coverage to nearly 4 million people, the largest single expansion of healthcare coverage since Medicare and Medicaid were founded over 40 years ago.
• AB x1 1 tackles escalating healthcare costs through bulk purchasing of drugs, better information for consumers about healthcare quality and cost, the creation of a powerful purchasing pool of consumers that would be 3-4 times larger than CalPERS, the creation of a public insurer to compete with private insurance companies, and prevention and wellness programs.
• ABx1 1 sets a standard for employer contributions to health benefits on the job, just like the minimum wage sets a wage standard.
• AB x1 1 gets billions of dollars more from the federal government for California, so hospitals can get paid a fair amount for Medi-Cal patients. The package includes $1.1 billion in net increases for county hospitals plus the opportunity to transition.
• AB x1 1 provides real help to working and middle class families. It provides affordability assistance for people up to 400% of the federal poverty line: that’s $83,000 for a family of four.
• AB x1 1 makes insurance companies play by fair rules. Insurance companies won't be able to deny people based on pre-existing conditions, and they’ll have to spend 85% of every premium dollar on providing healthcare.

• making sure that employers don't "dump" workers into the pool without paying
• giving the state medical insurance board (MRMIB) the authority to provide affordability protections to whole groups of people, not just to individuals on a case by case basis
• clarifying the minimum benefits

• SEIU members ask California State Senators and Assembly members to support AB x1 1.
• We also ask you help keep improving AB x1 1 by preventing employers from "dumping" their workers into the pool without paying, supporting stronger affordability protections and clarifying the minimum benefits.

Don't Waste this Opportunity: Support AB x1 1 (Núñez, Perata)!