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Fantasy Health Care Ballot :: May 29, 2003 Assembled from the Pizza Summit by Julieann Pavesi. Produced by José Márquez. Vote for as many or as few ideas as you like. As in a run-off election, some measures may contradict others. All of the winning suggestions will be included in a report presented to select California legislators this June. Click on the underlined phrases for additional information.   Yes   No Guarantee health coverage for all. Includes medical, dental, vision, mental health, and prescription drug coverage. Yes   No Create a new state agency to administer universal health care. For an example, see the definition of "Health Care Agency" in SB 921. Yes   No Levy a 4% payroll tax on workers and employers to fund health care reform. By comparison, the current FICA tax of 15.3% devotes 1.45% to Medicare. Yes   No Levy additional excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco, as well as a tax on unearned income, in order to fund health care reform. Unearned income includes revenues from dividends, interest, gifts, inheritances, etc. Yes   No Place all existing state health funds into a single system. For comparison, consider the debate regarding market consolidation in the health care industry. Yes   No Require all employers, except some small businesses, to offer health insurance, or, pay an equivalent fee to the state. This insurance plan will cover employees and their dependents, as well as part-time workers. Yes   No Extend the Healthy Families Program to adults. The program is described in a list of frequently asked questions. Yes   No Extend the Children's Health Initiative Matching Fund to adults. Passed in 2001, the Fund targets children in low-income households, ineligible for the Healthy Families Program or Medi-Cal. Yes   No Provide coverage for low-income working adults as well as the children of low-income families. Similar to current proposals to cover adults with incomes below 300% of the federal poverty level; see previous. Yes   No Require employers to offer insurance while also requiring workers, who can afford this coverage, to buy it. Yes   No Require most employers, except small businesses, to offer health insurance. For current availability rates, consult statistics and analyses on small businesses and employer-based health insurance. Yes   No Offer small companies short-term subsidies to provide insurance. By comparison, the State of California already serves as a health insurance purchasing pool for small employers. Yes   No Create a state health care program for employers who cannot afford to provide their employees with insurance. Yes   No Require medical centers to publish their price lists. Require centers to provide their patients with a free report of itemized charges. Yes   No Require medical centers to publish their success and failure rates. Yes   No Integrate the Child Health and Disability Prevention Program, Medi-Cal, and the Healthy Families Program in order to greatly expand the pool of eligible participants. Yes   No Provide health care coverage to children in California living at the federal poverty level to reduce a documented gap in services. Yes   No Provide the infants of women receiving Medi-Cal benefits with free health care coverage for one year Yes   No Produce an independent report comparing California's Medi-Cal reimbursement rates to those of the five other most populous states. Yes   No Increase California's Medi-Cal reimbursement rate until it is comparable with that of the other five most populous states. Yes   No Require hospitals to develop price guidelines for self-paying patients. Require said guidelines to also include "charity care" patients. Self-paying patients often include uninsured patients. Yes   No Establish a statewide hospital "self-pay" policy. Yes   No Transfer the overtime wages of employees towards their health care contribution, not to exceed a maximum of five hours, and exempt from state taxes and other fees. Yes   No Provide state-funded liability insurance for up to 100 doctors who offer voluntary, unpaid medical services. By comparison, current law allows doctors performing such work to waive license renewal fees. Yes   No Require providers of Medi-Cal benefits to include cost information when submitting a payment claim in order to facilitate existing insurance fraud detection and prevention measures. Yes   No Establish a language and culture enrichment program for doctors. Program requires only voluntary participation by physicians and is to be financed by the tuition costs of enrolled doctors. Yes   No Require health insurers to justify the cost of their premiums to state regulators. This legislation is to follow the design of existing constraints on auto and homeowners insurance providers. View poll results <#include file="/footer.txt">