Letter to the Newark City Council and Mayor Smith
January 17, 2007


Dear Mayor Smith and Council Members,
 

The League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark and Union City is participating in OneCareNow, a grass roots campaign to educate Californians about the deplorable state of health care in California and what can be done about it. The League of Women Voters of California and the League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark and Union City, along with thousands of others, support single payer universal health care as a viable solution for all Californians. We are asking that you join us in this endeavor by passing a resolution in support of universal single payer health care.

We support Senate Bill 840, titled "The California Health Insurance Reliability Act", authored by Senator Sheila Kuehl. This landmark legislation provides fiscally sound, affordable and comprehensive coverage via single payer universal health insurance for all Californians.

Senate Bill 840 was passed by both State legislative bodies in the last session. The League arrived at our support for SB 840 after reviewing many of the other proposed options. 
 
 

The following is a summary of SB 840:

‘The bill creates one plan and one public trust fund which pays all health care bills and collects all the monies already being spent on health care and insurance plans. When enacted, SB 840 replaces all health premiums, taxes, deductibles and co-payments now paid by employers, employees and individuals with one affordable premium paid to the public trust fund. It will save $8 billion dollars in the first year alone and over $350 billion over a ten year period.’ The OneCareNow campaign is holding health care awareness activities in 365 cities throughout California. The campaign started in August 2006 and will continue until August 2007. Every day for 365 days, one city in California will be asked to support the concept of making sure that all Californians have health care. February 12, 2007 is the day devoted to Newark. 

On February 12, 2007, the League will be passing out flyers throughout the city of Newark and we would like to have a resolution from the Council to show that the City of Newark also supports healthcare reform. The situation in California is truly deplorable. Over 7 million do not have insurance, and many more are underinsured. 

Recently, Governor Schwarzenegger announced an alternative proposal. We have just completed a cable program where we interviewed Andrew McGuire, Director of the OneCareNow Campaign and Dr. Jacob Eapen, a physician who serves on the Board of Washington Hospital. These distinguished guests discussed the pros and cons of both programs and SB 840 clearly stood out as the better option. This program will air on
 
 

Comcast's Newark cable, Channel 6, on Thursdays in February at 7 PM. Please view the program for further details about their discussion.

We would be happy to provide you with more information to assist you in making your decision to support this landmark legislation. You can contact us at the phone numbers listed below. The most effective way for you to support your constituents would be to have your resolution read at the February 8th Council Meeting so that the press can report it on February 12th, the day assigned to your City. Please join with other cities in this effort.

Additional information can be found on the following websites: OneCareNow.org and healthcareforall.org. We urge you pass the attached resolution.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Miriam Keller, President, 
League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark, and Union City
510-573-0907

Syeda Yunus, HealthCare Specialist 
League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark and Union City
510-206-8158