Our Coalition
Protect California Health Care is a coalition of doctors, nurses, hospitals, health plans, small businesses, employers and other organizations concerned about the costly, destructive single payer proposal. Different members of the coalition have different perspectives about the best way to improve access to affordable health care, but they all agree on one thing: that single payer would be prohibitively costly and disrupt access to health care for millions of Californians.
“While ANA\C endeavors to improve access to appropriate, quality, safe, and timely care, the disruption made by the single payer proposal in preventing Californians from choosing their own health coverage or plan would cause a lack of access to nursing care for our patients and our communities. This disruption not only undermines a patient’s meaningful access to health care, but it also impacts the economy by destroying more than 100,000 California jobs – including nursing positions – in the health care sector, such as hospitals, doctor’s offices, clinics, and health plans. ANA\C’s mission is to enhance the health and well-being of Californians, and we are ready to work with stakeholders in addressing these important issues.”
– Marketa Houskova, CEO, American Nurses Association\California
“CAHIP agents are proud of our work to ensure all Californians have access to high quality healthcare with transparency and stability in pricing. With unrealistic and unattainable promises, single payer threatens every hard-fought reform and policy benefit and eliminates the programs our clients depend on; Covered California, Medicare, and employer sponsored coverage.”
– Tim Kanter, President, California Agents and Health Insurance Professionals
“Californians shouldn’t be forced into a one-size-fits-all rationed health care system with no choices and no guarantees they will be able to keep their doctor or specialists. Our collective energy should be dedicated to ensuring the stability and success of our current health care marketplace by working together to solve the key problems facing our health care system today — including affordability.”
– Charles Bacchi, President and CEO, California Association of Health Plans
“California already has a vision for achieving universal coverage for all of its 3 million uninsured residents that is far less costly and complicated than single payer. It involves building on the successful foundation of care delivery that organizes physicians, hospitals and other providers into integrated systems that deliver significantly higher quality at lower per capita cost to Californians. If we increase the number of patients receiving care in this manner, the savings from elimination of waste, duplication, and inefficiency will more than generate enough funding that a portion of those savings can be captured and used to fund coverage for the remaining uninsured. Single payer promises universal access, but fails to provide the health care infrastructure necessary to ensure that access, and to control cost escalation as more people seek healthcare. Single payer threatens the nation-leading care that our seniors currently enjoy under Medicare Advantage, which provides them access at very low cost with very high quality outcomes, because it would trash the manner in which Medicare is organized and delivered and replace it with an obsolete program that fails to integrate, organize and coordinate care for patients with complex chronic illnesses.”
– William Barcellona, Executive Vice President, America’s Physician Groups
“Rather than starting over with an entirely new health care system, California has much to celebrate and should finish the job of expanding coverage to all by building on the Affordable Care Act. Our state leads the nation, with 93 percent of all Californians now covered. Our opportunity now is to build upon this successful framework by identifying new pathways to extend coverage to the remaining 7 percent who remain uninsured, including those who are not currently eligible for coverage. California’s hospitals stand ready to partner with state officials and stakeholders in this important work.”
– Carmela Coyle, President and CEO, California Hospital Association
“The California Medical Association (CMA) has long advocated for universal access to quality and affordable health care. The single payer proposal would jeopardize California’s historic health care access and coverage gains and reduce patient access to care by driving physicians and their practices out of state or into retirement, leading to longer wait times for procedures and appointments and reduced access to specialists.”
– Dustin Corcoran, Chief Executive Officer, California Medical Association
Join the Coalition
Complete the form below to join the coalition.