It’s been about as exciting as watching paint dry.
The “special session” of the legislature to deal with healthcare reform, that is. Schwarzenegger’s call to extend the legislative year by focusing on healthcare and water projects appears to be going nowhere.
Today, there’s word of a new study that shows that the percentage of Californians who get health insurance through their jobs is among the lowest in the country. The study, by the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, shows that California ranks 5th lowest in job-sponsored healthcare coverage.
Only 55.7% of California workers have coverage through their jobs. Since 2000, more than 600,000 fewer children are covered by their parents’ health insurance. The erosion of coverage is affecting middle income jobs as well as low-skilled jobs.
You can see a pdf version of this study by clicking here:
http://www.epi.org/briefingpapers/203/bp203.pdf
Polls show the approval ratings of the governor and the legislature diving. And a new poll shows the California electorate is very pessimistic about the direction of the state.
Remember Matt Leinart’s hail mary touchdown pass several years ago that carried USC to victory over Notre Dame in the final seconds? As L.A. Times political columnist George Skelton noted yesterday, maybe it’s time for a hail mary pass by the Governor, Fabian Nunez and Don Perata.
Skelton’s piece can be seen here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me … california
Platoons of Blue Cross lobbyists are probably celebrating already. After all, if nothing comes out of the special session, then we have the status quo. A healthcare system that leaves too many Californians behind. A system that burdens the taxpayer who has to pay for emergency room care for the uninsured at county hospitals.
Stay tuned. You can subscribe to the blog by clicking on the colored RSS reader buttons on the lower-right hand scroll bar.
Julius Young
http://www.boxerlaw.com/practices/injury.html
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Category: Political developments
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