Promoting Health Care

By Tony Fellow

Helping the Uninsured

The state forgoes hundreds of millions of dollars in Federal matching funds that are available to expand coverage to the uninsured by failing to expand Medi-Cal and the Healthy Families program.

We need to extend coverage to an additional 4 to 5 million people with annual incomes up to $40,000 for a family of three. Patients and doctors--not insurance companies--need to be in control.

Managed care has boosted corporate profits at the expense of quality care for patients, and the jobs and rights of health care workers.

We need to champion research and educational preventionprograms to eliminate diseases such as cancer and AIDS. We need to establish more health facilities as "Centers of Excellence" such as Women & Children's Clinics, Rehabilitation Centers, Psychiatric Care and Burn Centers.