Welcome to the Third World California
Yesterday Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced
his plans to drive California into third world status.
Officially a Health Care Reform plan if adopted it would:
- Require all employers with 10 or more employees to provide insurance or pay 4% of their payroll into a government program designed to provide coverage to the uninsured.
- Tax Doctors 2% of their Gross Revenues. Tax Hospitals 4% of the Gross Revenues. Note this is not 2% or 4% of their profit, but of the gross.
- Cover all children whose families make less than 3 times the poverty level through the states Healthy Family program. For a family of 4 in California that is approximately $60,000. The median income for a family of 4 in California is $67,000. That means approximately 50% of the families in California would be covered by this provision.
- Ban insurance companies from refusing to offer coverage based on preexisting conditions.
- Require insurance companies to spend at least 85% of their premium revenues on patient care. This is essentially another tax as it effectively limits profit to 15% of income minus whatever the overhead costs are. There is no possibility of growth.
- Mandate insurance coverage for all Californians. This effectively negates the first provision of the plan since no employer in his right mind is going to offer insurance when the state is already doing it.
Effectively Governor Schwarzenegger’s plan will, in my opinion:
- Restrict economic development. New businesses will look twice before opening in California, existing businesses will think twice before expanding.
- Contribute to unemployment. If you can make due with 9 workers and avoid the mandates why keep a tenth on.
- Force insurance companies to leave the state. If the potential for profit is dimished why stay?
- Bankrupt the state – This is really conjectural at this point but if insurance is mandatory and you can’t be turned down what is to prevent people requiring expensive care who can’t afford it from moving to California?
- Decrease access to care. I predict a diaspora of doctors if the 2% tax on gross revenues should pass. Especially since many doctors have hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans that will not be usable as a deduction under this plan.
Of course if it does pass I am quiting my job and moving to California for free health care.
Technorati tags: Politics, Health Care
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January 10th, 2007 at 6:46 am
pretty soon Arnold will have to go to the IMF for help in creating his new nation-state
January 13th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
It appears Maria’s relatives have gotten their claws into Arnold. Talk about pussy whipped.
Chuck
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January 24th, 2007 at 2:15 am
So, instead of offering up any criticism of this otherwise useless State of the Union speech, I’d like to throw out some more information, beyond my previous post on the subject, on the numerous reasons why Schwarzenegger’s health care plan
January 25th, 2007 at 6:03 am
Got started in blogging and I’m loving it, just setup my blog. Just learning as much as I can… could do with some useful links.
Jay
January 25th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
A national health promotion and disease prevention initiative bringing together many individuals and agencies to improve the health of all Americans WBR LeoP
January 26th, 2007 at 11:16 am
The American Association for Health Education serves health educators and other professionals who promote the health of all people. WBR LeoP
February 2nd, 2007 at 1:38 am
HO!hi.
Good article!
March 5th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
the personal exemption. In future tax years the individual must pay for half the cost of the lowest available yearly premium which will be enforced as an assessed addition to the individual’s income tax. In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has designs (emphasis added) on terminating free market healthcare choices, too. * Require all employers with 10 or more employees to provide insurance or pay 4% of their payroll into a government program designed to provide coverage to the uninsured.