Nurse Union Leader Critical of Health Reform Proposals
Problems implementing Massachusetts' mandatory health insurance law are important to note as California lawmakers debate health care reform options because plans offered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez (D-Los Angeles) "repeat the mistakes of the Massachusetts law," Malinda Markowitz, a member of the Council of Presidents of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, writes in a San Jose Mercury News opinion piece.
Proposals by the governor and Núñez share the "fatal flaw" of not adequately controlling health care costs, Markowitz writes, adding that without such protections, state subsidies to help individuals buy health insurance "are meaningless."
According to Markowitz, "the main beneficiaries of a rushed 'compromise' will be the same insurance companies that created the present crisis." She concludes, "Californians should demand that legislators pull the plug before we plunge into another disaster" (Markowitz, San Jose Mercury News, 10/25).