The Senator Reports

February 4th, 2010

Government-Run Healthcare is Not the Solution
By Senator Mark Wyland (R-Carlsbad)

I am disappointed that last week legislators went beyond the extreme policies being discussed in Washington and passed a measure to create a government-run healthcare system for California.

To say that health care would improve under this program is simply incorrect. Countries that have adopted a “single-payer” plan experience the same result: health care is rationed, there are never enough doctors, waiting times for procedures from tests to surgery are lengthy and worsen our overall health care. Many treatments currently available would be withheld if the patient did not “qualify”, for example, if they were “too old”, as defined by some bureaucrat rather than the doctor. Instead, these patients often receive medication only, thus reducing their quality of life and often shortening their lives.

I believe that no Californian deserves this kind of poor, costly treatment. Instead, we should embrace sensible solutions that lower costs, expand consumer choice and improve the quality of our health care.

Senator Mark Wyland represents the people of the 38th Senate District, which includes cities in north San Diego County and the south Orange County cities of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano.

Senator Mark Wyland
1910 Palomar Point Way, Suite 105
Carlsbad, California 92008
760.931.2455 Office
email: senator.wyland@sen.ca.gov

California Democrats’ Government Run Health Care Scheme is a Prescription for Economic Disaster
By Assemblyman Martin Garrick

Despite the fact that more than 2.25 million Californians are out-of-work and the state is facing a $20.7 billion deficit, Democrats in the California State Senate recently approved a $200 billion health care plan that would wreck our economy and kill thousands of jobs.

Their plan, Senate Bill 810 (Leno), would outlaw private health insurance and create a DMV-style agency to administer a “single-payer” health care system in California. The bill doesn’t yet specify how the state will pay for it, but it is modeled after previous efforts that would have imposed payroll taxes of up to 16 percent on California’s struggling job creators.

We’ve been down this path before, as the voters repealed a similar scheme (SB 2) in 2003 and Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a nearly identical plan (SB 840) in 2008. In fact, the Governor vowed to veto the latest plan if it comes across his desk.

Instead of wasting time reviving flawed government run healthcare schemes, lawmakers should work together to put California jobs first. With our economy under extreme duress, we must encourage employers to stay here rather than moving out of state. Californians need a government that values job creation and economic recovery, not a new state run health care bureaucracy.

Assemblyman Martin Garrick serves the communities of Carlsbad, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Rancho Santa Fe, San Marcos, Vista, and portions of San Diego, Escondido and Oceanside as the Assemblyman for the 74th District.