Welcome to the October Law and Business issue of NorthBay biz. This month’s cover story, “Immigration Nation,” tackles the many-sided question of immigration reform and its potential impact on the local wine industry. Seen through the eyes of local law firms, worker activists and wine industry leaders, the story presents multiple viewpoints and differing solutions. However, not surprisingly, it does find agreement that indeed the North Bay’s wine industry is heavily dependent on an immigrant workforce—one that could be hugely impacted by any reforms. Beyond the cover story is our usual eclectic mix of informative, insightful and entertaining business stories, all our new and regular features, plus all of our enlightening columnists—whose ranks increase this month as we debut a new business humor column titled “Biz Ridiculous,” written by D.F. Krause. Please let us know how you enjoy this new editorial offering by the North Bay’s only locally owned business publication—NorthBay biz.
“And they wonder why term limits are still popular with voters.” That sardonic remark was uttered by Martyn Hopper, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), California’s biggest small business organization. The remark was in response to a press conference held August 28, 2006, by State Senate leader Don Perata of Oakland and Santa Monica Senator Sheila Kuehl, urging passage of Kuehl’s universal health care Bill 840.
Hopper continues, “In case they’ve forgotten, the voters were loud and unmistakably clear when they rejected another massive health care idea for California in November of 2004. And they couldn’t have been confused in doing so, since it was a referendum requiring a ‘No’ vote on Senate Bill 2, which is what Senator Kuehl is attempting to serve up again and which has been amended eight times.” (California voters also rejected a government-run health care system, Proposition 186, in 1994.) Normally, persistence is a quality I admire, but attempting the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome is the definition of an entirely different word.
This bill is another blatant attempt to ignore the voter’s will in its effort to create a universal health care system for California modeled on the systems in Canada and parts of Europe. Critics’ estimates of the cost to taxpayers range from $80 to $100 billion. According to the NFIB, that’s probably why proponents of the bill left the cost of the program blank. I can safely say, however, that the bill isn’t completely worthless. It would certainly help lower the State unemployment numbers significantly, as it calls for the creation of a ‘California Health System’ to be administered by the ‘California Health Insurance Agency’ run by a ‘Health Insurance Commissioner,’ both of which would be aided and monitored by a ‘Health Insurance Policy Board,’ ‘Office of Health Planning,’ ‘Office of Health Quality Care,’ ‘Office of Patient Responsibility,’ and ‘Office of Inspector General.’ I’m not making any of these proposed ‘Offices’ up.
This column is being written on September 6 and the magazine just received a couple of press releases from both the California Chamber of Commerce and the NFIB announcing that Governor Schwarzenegger intends to veto SB 840. The Chamber release read in part, “This bill would create a vast new government bureaucracy that the Governor correctly notes will cost billions of dollars to set up and maintain, lead to new taxes and jeopardize our economy. California voters do not want and have twice rejected such a government- run system.”
The NFIB release was even stronger, stating, “We are both elated that the Governor is killing the most costly and inefficient program ever proposed, and saddened that the California Legislature has once again ignored real solutions to the health care crisis in favor of grand political gestures. Health care has been the No. 1 issue for small business across America for the past 20 years, as evidenced by the fact that fewer than half of Main Street firms can afford to provide health care for their employees, while 99 percent of big business can. Small business has not sat idly by in the health care debate, but has instead offered some workable proposals, which have been largely ignored by the California Legislature.”
The press release closed with the following powerful statement. “Furthermore, Senate Bill 840 would prohibit health-care service plan contracts or health insurance policies from being issued for services covered by the California Health Insurance System. In other words, total effective elimination of patient choice. On its face, SB 840 would have compounded the problem of the uninsured in California, and on its face value, business and taxpayers would have never seen the end of financing this scheme.” And to that sentiment, all I can add is amen.
What strikes me most about this example of the State legislature’s never-ending quest to create sprawling bureaucracies with billion-dollar price tags is its refusal to acknowledge the will of the people it represents and further to recognize the ultimate consequences of its actions. There are many actionable plans it could propose to help control health care costs, which in turn would lower costs and enable many currently uninsured workers to gain health care coverage. For example, allowing small business to form large purchasing combines across state lines so they could enjoy the same lower health insurance rates that big businesses do, focus on creating basic coverage plans instead of mandating ever- increasing levels of coverage that only drive up costs that deny coverage to thousands, bringing the state code into compliance with the federal government’s to allow deductions for Health Savings Accounts and, how about just once, streamlining regulations to increase efficiencies and reduce overall administrative costs. These are just a few suggestions the legislature could work on to lower health insurance costs while helping provide coverage for more people without creating another dreadful, inefficient and most likely corrupt bureaucracy that would inflict further damage on California’s already fragile economy.
That’s it for now. Enjoy this month’s magazine.
