Issue: Bringing health care programs to the state that the people deserve; or, more precisely, providing health care as if people, not just profits, matter.

Single-payer health care is on the horizon: Seven million Californians are uninsured; millions more are underinsured. While we're talking figures, let's look at some more numbers: In a private health care system, a major portion of health dollars go to administrative costs, like executive salaries, commissions, and stockholder dividends. Almost one-quarter -- 25 percent -- of health care dollars go to these non-medical costs, rather than to pay for actual health care.

In a single payer system, like Medicare or MediCal, these non-medical administrative costs plummet to less than 4 percent. This means more than 96 percent of the funds available to treat patients.

Single payer health care is the most cost-effective method for financing and administering a universal health care system, which everyone in California -- citizen and non-citizen alike -- deserves. With a single payer system, California establishes a health insurance plan that covers all residents. Administered by a single statewide agency, this single-payer health plan replaces all other health insurance plans, public and private.

As a first major historic step toward the goal of universal health care for all Californians, state Sen. Sheila Kuehl's single-payer health care bill SB 840 is clearly long overdue.

The Green Party and Larry Cafiero both endorse and work toward the passage of SB 840, and stand with groups like Health Care for All in achieving single-payer health care. Further, a Green administration in the state's Department of Insurance under Larry Cafiero will make a top priority of facilitating the changes necessary after the passage of SB 840.

Got an issue?

The preceding list outlines one of the main issues: Led by the Green Party's 10 Key Values, the Greens and Larry Cafiero have a variety of other issues dealing with insurance matters. Do you have an issue you'd like addressed? E-mail the candidate here.

To return to the main page, click here.