Health care costs

Green-Party-Health-card-1, Health care costs, Local News & Views

by Barry Hermanson

In 35 other countries, people enjoy better health care at a much lower cost. No co-pays, no deductibles and everyone is covered. In the U.S., 30 million people have no health insurance and another 40 million are underinsured.

It has been more than two years since SB 562, the Healthy California Act, failed to get out of a legislative committee. Since then, our legislators have not heard from us. San Francisco Greens want an Improved Medicare for All bill introduced in the California State Assembly or Senate at the beginning of the next legislative session in January 2021.

This reprint of the front and back of a 4-inch-by-6-inch Health Care card asks California State Assemblyman Phil Ting to introduce a bill. Cards addressed to Assemblyman David Chiu and State Sen. Scott Wiener will be printed soon.

All three legislators represent San Francisco in Sacramento. When campaigning for election, all three claimed to be advocates for an Improved Medicare for All. Scott said it was a personal issue as he talked about a member of his family. Although he says he is an advocate, Phil frequently asks me, “How are we going to pay for it?”

We currently pay twice as much per person and get lower quality healthcare than the average of 35 other countries.

Green-Party-Health-card-2, Health care costs, Local News & Views

Legislators representing other parts of California need to hear this message. Please use the design if it is useful to you. If you need assistance to change the name of the legislator on the back and the sponsoring organization on the front, my contact information follows.

Barry Hermanson is a member of the San Francisco Green Party County Council and a former small business owner. Contact him at Barry@Hermansons.com or 415-255-9494. A special thanks to David Barker. He created the image on the front of the card.