500 Mayors for Health Care Reform

Americans are angry. This summer we've seen frustrations boil over in health care town halls across the country. But what are people mad about? Most are upset about the economy and afraid about losing their jobs. They are using town halls to vent.

I understand health care reform is a contentious issue. But reforming the health care system is at the heart of our nation's economic recovery.

In California, health care premiums have risen 114% since 2000. More than 20% of Californians under 65 years old are uninsured, the 4th highest in the U.S. Our small businesses, which make up 77% of our companies in the Golden State, are feeling the pain as well. They're being forced to make a choice between hiring employees or providing health benefits, and even then, only 46% of them offered coverage in 2006. Tens of thousands of children also joined the ranks of the uninsured last month, when Governor Schwarzenegger cut billions of dollars from the Healthy Families health care program to balance the state budget.

Here's the bottom line: rising health care costs are taking money out of our wallets and making it more expensive to do business. The increasing number of uninsured residents leaves cities footing the bill for emergency room visits from the uninsured.

We have a decision to make. We can do nothing, which will only make matters worse or we can demand change.

That's why mayors across our country have joined together to support President Obama's call for health care reform. City governments understand that the status quo is unacceptable. As the Chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Health Care Reform Task Force, I am leading an effort to get 500 mayors to sign on in support of the Administration's health care reform principles.

Our petition urges Congress to enact comprehensive Health Care reform that will:

• Reduce long-term growth of health care costs for businesses and government
• Guarantee choice of doctors, hospitals and health plans and the choice of a private or public health care plan
• Maintain coverage when someone changes or loses a job
• End barriers to coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions
• Eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse in government health programs
• Hold insurance and drug companies accountable

We cannot wait for health care reform. We need to fix our broken system. We must refute the misleading campaigns that make Americans fearful about improving our health care system.

San Francisco is proof that we can make this work.

Two years ago, San Francisco launched the country's first universal health care program, Healthy San Francisco. Today, more than 75% of previously uninsured residents are enrolled in our public program.

Healthy San Francisco is saving lives, reducing costs and creating competition. Check out this first hand account of our public program. Watch this moving video of a woman who was unable to get coverage before she found out about Healthy San Francisco.

We can reform our health care system, but we must work together. Ask your mayor to sign on in support health care reform. Call. Email. We need to show right now that we support comprehensive health care reform before we let fear and disinformation prevail.

Follow Gavin Newsom on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GavinNewsom

Comments

[ReealOne]

Excellent Major Newsom! That's what I'm talking about! We have to get over all of the "scary boogy men against change", and move forward with health-care reform NOW. YOU, the mayors and other high-profile folks are what we need to take this on, as well as Pres. Obama's administration and the power majority to push back - which will definitely motivate our grassroots family to act NOW.

Dems... this is why we OVERWHELMINGLY handed you the power majority..­. to get things done for ALL Americans. NOW USE IT OR LOSE IT!!! GET MAD, GET TOUGH AND DETERMINED AND DEFEND YOUR POLICIES AND AGENDA.... AND DO IT LIKE NOTHING YOU'VE EVER BELIEVED IN BEFORE!!! We did nt' hand you the majority so that you can STILL allow the Republicans to run Washington and this country.

Take a lesson from the Republicans, and stick together and defend your policies and agenda. Do you think for one moment that if the Republicans had the power majority that we'd be experiencing this nightmare right now? Think again. It would be a closed issue right now, and they would tell the Dems to "live with it and get over it". Period. End of story.

WE CAN NO LONGER WAIT OR PUT HEALTHCARE REFORM ON THE BACK BURNER, AND PRES. OBAMA CANNOT DO THIS ALONE!! Thank you so much Mayor Newsom!!!

[toje]

There is absolutely no correlation between Healthy San Francisco and national health care (or health insurance) reform. It is a micro economic, highly localized, heavily subsidized niche product.

[gypsy508]

I'm in SF Health. I thank the Tom Ammiano for it though. Newsom did nothing but sit on the fence until it was enacted and then when it was a reality, jumped in to take the credit.

[SpaceManJoe]

...look, they're politicians, not necessarily leaders. the power is coming from us. that is why public option is in play again, because politicians, just like Gavin, are afraid of losing their jobs.

[MarJB]

YES. MEDICARE IS A DECENT SYSTEM. START IT AT EARLIER AGES LIKE 55 AND THEN ADD DECADE BY DECADE WITH HUMANE PREMIUMS FOR WORKING PROPLE.

[Bluedanube]

Medicare for everyone!

[Peabodies]

We want what other countries provide, Medicare for everyone who wants it, at any age, with monthly contribution, same as the over-65 (about $100/month per person) for basic, essential care. Leave a private option for those who prefer it, or for optional, elective care.

[NorCalNative]

I support Mayor Newsom's interest and ideas about reforming our health care system. However, as far as his candidacy for California governor goes, I will not support him or ANYONE else who doesn't come out in full support of AB 390.

Newsom is just another gutless politico in my opinion until he makes a stand for patient rights and against propaganda as drug policy. Ignoring cannabis as part of health care reform in California is ignoring the will of voters.

[oaktownadam]

hear, hear!

[gdcb1128]

It's ill-conceived to base your vote on any one issue. No politician is going to represent every single one of your positions. To threaten to not support a candidate on this basis allows people who have many more differing positions to win. I agree on the m.m. issue with but I am concerned that you would give away your vote to the other side based on this issue alone.

[oaktownadam]

"Our small businesses, which make up 77% of our companies in the Golden State, are feeling the pain as well. They're being forced to make a choice between hiring employees or providing health benefits, and even then, only 46% of them offered coverage in 2006."

And yet you, as Mayor of SF, created a program which mandated that these same small businesses you weep over must purchase health insurance for their employees. Seems like you're the one who forced that choice onto them.

Also, Gavin, will you pledge to enroll your family in the "public option", if one makes it into the final bill?

[LefCoast]

CORRECT ! Rather than raise taxes by a miniscule amt. on filthy rich SF corporations that already have so many tax breaks it's inconceivable, , newsom bravely passed along the costs directly to small businesses, who then passed it on to their consumers via surcharges on top of sales tax! There's no leadership in that....ju­st smoke and mirrors...

[sparky09]

Wish I still lived in California, just to vote for you, Gavin.

[oaktownadam]

that's funny...I'­m glad I do live in California, so I can vote against him.

[SFStillwater]

gavin newsom was against S.F public healthcare­...he co-opted it when he realized he couldn't block the supervisors' legislatio­n....

[LefCoast]

I just checked that out online...y­ou are right. It was the progressive bloc of the SF Supervisors that came up with the legislation. The mayor opposed it, then jumped on board just before the Supervisors passed it. Now he calls it his own idea !!!!

[WilliePilgrim]

Why shouldn'n't americans be angry. Look who we have to vote for...guys like you. You, Newsom, have done an OK job with the mess you inherited in SF...at least you know how that is run, but for you to triangulate yourself into Calif State politics by running for governor, you've shown that you are way too weak to be effective. I say this for one reason in specific; you comment on the legalization of marijuanna last week. If that's how you think, then obviously you don't want us to have other freedoms for the same reason; freedom can cause problems. Sounds like your early days of drinkin' have given you something in common with George W...dry alcoholics have no mental flexibility and rely on the old stand-bye. Of course, Jerry Brown's answer was, if possible, even lamer: it would make the state less competitive because as soon as we legalize it the whole state will stay stoned for 24/7/365 ad infinitum.­..or at least that is what he implies. Between you and Brown you've opened the doors for someone with wits, confidence and charisma to run, and while I wish it was Willie Brown, at this stage Charlie Manson could get 30% of the vote if he'd say he's in favor of legalizing and taxing weed.

[oaktownadam]

Gavin has been terrible for SF. He's got this vision of it as a modern-day Disney park, where smiling families will wander around aimlessly, spending money at tourist traps like Pier 39.

He's been on a one-man mission to destroy everything fun for the rest of us, and take all of the nightlife and the culture away too.

What happened to Halloween in the Castro, Gavin? What happened to Bay to Breakers, and all of the other wacky footraces? What happened to Big-Wheel races down Lombard Street? Why are you allowing (or even encouraging) the Liquor Board to shut down the nightclubs?

Too much fun, Daddy Gavin had to put his foot down.

[Evan Goldin]

Bay to Breakers seemed plenty fun this year...

[NickfromCali]

I believe you have my vote for Guv in 2010 Gavin; especially if Darth Feinstein supports Brand B

[spmcintyre]

I didn't know that individual mayors can elect to have their own health care plans. Why not try to convince the governors, or the legislatures of the individual states. They are the ones that need to be behind any movement like this. Even if the mayors have a say in the overall decisions of the state in which their ciy resides, then its only a state thing. Thats not gonna get you universal, federal government sponsersed care.

Additionally, there are 2 important points to add to the petition,

tort reform
removing the barrier for purchasing of plans from other states.

if we are going to have UNIVERSAL care, why can PRIVATE insurance NOT sell across state lines????????? Sounds like competition is being denied before the government monopoly even gets on its feet.

[Peabodies]

Rep. Dennis Kucinich has an amendment that would provide a waiver for individual states to initiate their own universal publicly-funded health care program.

[cyclobenzaprine9]

Thank you Mayor Gavin for your reform message and for representing our great city of SF!

[Creeker11]

Shouldnt be too hard to swindle ten whole mayors per state

[Pema]

gavin rocks.

[whitegayrepublican]

Running for office or not, Mr. Newsom is most correct. We cannot afford to allow the Repugs and its glum lot to dictate the course that will ultimately spell disaster; not just for healthcare but also for Social Security and many of our socialist programs that DO work well for the general masses.

[overd0g1]

Amusing. The scheme invented by the geniuses in congress was shown by the CBO to turn the U.S. into a banana republic because of the costs. Classic government cost containment at work. The California budget is another good example.

[koppenberg]

The CBO is not allowed to count the expected cost savings in the plans. They can count only the expected expenses.

For example, if the future availability of primary care to folks who don't currently have health coverage means that there are X number fewer trips to the emergency room for non-emergency care, then the CBO counts all of that extra, relatively inexpensive primary care as a cost to the plans, but CBO cannot count those expensive emergency room visits that did not happen as a savings/co­ntainment.

[spmcintyre]

Expected cost savings? From a government plan? There are not enough r's, o's, f's or l's to express how much comedic value there is in that post.

Since when did anything the government plan to do, ever cost what they thought it would cost in the beginning? Never once has there been an entitlement program implemented that cost less then or equal to the initial projections. Bushs medical plan is a good example.

Oh, there is one plan I have to mention that is somehow not part of this statement. Foodstamps, were being underutilized until recently. I guess sometimes its a good thing that the government never gives back unspent money.