Would Merced County benefit from state bill’s proposal for universal health care?

For Merced County where it’s estimated that more than 20,000 residents are undocumented, a proposal establishing a government-run universal health care system for all residents in California could benefit many, area officials said Monday.

The California Senate recently approved a measure, SB 562, aimed at establishing a single-payer health care system in the state. Approved on a 23-14 vote, it now moves to the Assembly.

The system, which would replace Obamacare – or what follows it under the Trump administration – would dramatically overhaul the health care market in California.

“With President Trump’s promise to abandon the Affordable Care Act as we know it, it leaves millions without access to care and Californians are once again tasked to lead,” said Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens. “Senate Bill 562 will finally enable California to cover all of its residents, creating a healthier and stronger state.”

Lara introduced SB 562 with Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, earlier this year.

According to a Senate Floor analysis, the bill is largely opposed by business and health insurance groups, including the Western Growers Association, the California Chamber of Commerce and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Those groups say the bill would “ultimately result in significant job loss to the state.” They say employers could not “sustain an added tax burden.”

The bill is sponsored by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, along with numerous faith-based and consumer protection groups who argue “health care is a human right” and say the bill would “ensure that insurance companies ... no longer determine the health and well-being of our state.”

Under the plan, the government would negotiate prices with doctors, hospitals and other providers, acting as the “single payer” for everyone’s health care in the place of insurance companies. All Californians would receive coverage regardless of immigration status or ability to pay.

In Merced County, an estimated 24,290 people are undocumented, according to a report from San Diego State University and the USC Center for the Study of Immigration Integration.

An estimated 25 percent of children in Merced County have at least one parent who is undocumented, the study said.

Local health advocates in Merced County have been working on a campaign, Health4All, that explores ways to provide health insurance for the remaining uninsured in the county, regardless of their immigration status.

Recently, officials at Building Health Communities Merced and the Merced Organizing Project have been working with the Merced County Board of Supervisors to schedule a study session that will address those issues.

Advocates hope the study session will lead county officials to allocate funds in the next budget cycle for a program that would bring health care access to all residents in the county, regardless of immigration status.

Kathleen Grassi, director of the Merced County Department of Public Health, universal health care would work “very well” in Merced County, saying it would help those still not covered through the Medi-Cal expansion. The main question is to figure out how it would be funded, she said.

“For individuals like the undocumented it would provide options for all,” she said. “On a statewide level, it could be affordable. It’s incredibly expensive and not very effective to go county by county.”

Keith Ensminger has owned Kramer Translation, a small business in Merced for more than 20 years. He believes the bill could save small businesses “bundles” of money.

Most small business owners can only afford basic insurance packages, Ensminger said, that limit the number of doctors and services provided. Having a single-payer health system will diminish many of the barriers that people in Merced County face and allow small business owners to offer more health coverage.

“The key issue is being able to make sure everyone has access to the medical community whether they’re rich or poor,” Ensminger said.

The bill does not include detailed language about how the state would come up with hundreds of billions of dollars to pay for health care coverage for nearly 40 million residents.

SB 562 would have to return to the Senate floor for another vote if it is amended in the Assembly with a funding plan. If that happens, the bill would require a two-thirds majority in each house to advance to the governor’s desk. In its current form, the bill only required a majority vote to pass.

Senators on both sides of the aisle spoke against the proposal and the lack of a clear way to pay for it.

Many Democrats who supported SB 562 said they wanted to keep the conversation and idea alive. Some described it as a starting point and expressed confidence that Lara and Atkins would continue to refine the bill and figure out a way to pay for it, among other changes.

According to legislative records, Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, voted against the bill. Cannella’s district includes Merced.

This story was originally published June 5, 2017 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Would Merced County benefit from state bill’s proposal for universal health care?."