State Senator Yee to Talk About Health Care Reform at UCSF Today
As part of the 2008 Legislative Day event, California State Senator Leland Yee, PhD, will come to UCSF today (April 21) to talk about the state of health care reform, including an update on SB 840.
Yee's presentation is from 6 to 7:15 p.m. in the School of Nursing, room N 225, at the UCSF Parnassus campus.
Yee is a member of the State Senate Health Committee and speaker pro tempore (the number 2 position in the California State Assembly). He is a co-author of Senator Sheila Kuehl's SB 840 single-payer health care bill and has been championing a health care reform measure that contains costs for working families.
Following the talk, UCSF clinical pharmacy faculty, including Dean Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD, Glenn Yokoyama, PharmD, PhD, and Helene Lipton, PharmD, PhD, will host a dinner. Yee and faculty members will be able to answer questions from the audience and facilitate a discussion on health care system reform. This is the second annual Legislative Day -- organized by American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) -- that invites policymakers active in health policy legislation to educate UCSF professional students about current developments in the state capitol. Legislative Day also aims to increase interprofessional development by sponsoring representatives from the schools of dentistry and medicine to attend the talk and dinner discussion. The event stimulates student involvement in the policymaking process through workshops and brainstorming sessions facilitated by politician's staff members and UCSF faculty. Health Care Reform One of the senator's recent contributions to health care reform was taking part in a majority vote in the Senate Health Committee to reject Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's health care bill AB X1 1. Yee stood in opposition to a multi-payer health care system that does not include provisions to contain medical expenses or insurance costs. Yee commented on the potential lack of affordability of the individual mandate for working families: "This bill does not move us closer to the promise of universal health care.Californians should be extremely skeptical of a law which requires them to purchase insurance, but allows insurance companies to charge any amount for the policy. ABX1 1 doesn't provide care, but rather just requires individuals to purchase insurance without specifics on how to contain costs." Yee was referring to the shortfalls of a bill that placed no caps on premiums, no regulation of the costs of insurance or medical expenses, no maximum deductibles and no floor on how little coverage people must purchase. Yee further commented on the bill's provision to penalize those failing to purchase insurance by the enrollment deadline by garnishing wages or imposing mortgage liens. "It is unethical to garnish someone's wages or place a lien on their mortgage because they can't afford to purchase insurance," he said. "At the end of the day, the person is still poor. Californians deserve a single-payer system that will guarantee real health care for everyone." When Yee was asked what could be done to pass SB 840, which had been vetoed by the governor in 2006, but passed again in the Senate last year, Yee said a massive education campaign was needed to show people that a government-administered health care system could be effective. "We also have to get labor fully on board behind single-payer," Yee said. "I understand the idea of getting part of universal health care, but if you get a bad bill, it will set back the effort to get universal health care." About Yee Yee emigrated at the age of 3 to San Francisco from China. After attending San Francisco's public schools, he received his bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley, his master's degree from San Francisco State University and his doctorate in child psychology at the University of Hawaii. Yee worked in various mental health and school settings and served for four years in the California State Assembly as a representative for District 8, which comprises parts of San Francisco and San Mateo counties. Yee was elected to the State Senate in November 2006 with more than 78 percent of the vote. He is the first Chinese American ever elected to the California State Senate and first Asian American elected to the Legislature's upper house in 40 years.
Yee's presentation is from 6 to 7:15 p.m. in the School of Nursing, room N 225, at the UCSF Parnassus campus.
Yee is a member of the State Senate Health Committee and speaker pro tempore (the number 2 position in the California State Assembly). He is a co-author of Senator Sheila Kuehl's SB 840 single-payer health care bill and has been championing a health care reform measure that contains costs for working families.
Following the talk, UCSF clinical pharmacy faculty, including Dean Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD, Glenn Yokoyama, PharmD, PhD, and Helene Lipton, PharmD, PhD, will host a dinner. Yee and faculty members will be able to answer questions from the audience and facilitate a discussion on health care system reform. This is the second annual Legislative Day -- organized by American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) -- that invites policymakers active in health policy legislation to educate UCSF professional students about current developments in the state capitol. Legislative Day also aims to increase interprofessional development by sponsoring representatives from the schools of dentistry and medicine to attend the talk and dinner discussion. The event stimulates student involvement in the policymaking process through workshops and brainstorming sessions facilitated by politician's staff members and UCSF faculty. Health Care Reform One of the senator's recent contributions to health care reform was taking part in a majority vote in the Senate Health Committee to reject Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's health care bill AB X1 1. Yee stood in opposition to a multi-payer health care system that does not include provisions to contain medical expenses or insurance costs. Yee commented on the potential lack of affordability of the individual mandate for working families: "This bill does not move us closer to the promise of universal health care.Californians should be extremely skeptical of a law which requires them to purchase insurance, but allows insurance companies to charge any amount for the policy. ABX1 1 doesn't provide care, but rather just requires individuals to purchase insurance without specifics on how to contain costs." Yee was referring to the shortfalls of a bill that placed no caps on premiums, no regulation of the costs of insurance or medical expenses, no maximum deductibles and no floor on how little coverage people must purchase. Yee further commented on the bill's provision to penalize those failing to purchase insurance by the enrollment deadline by garnishing wages or imposing mortgage liens. "It is unethical to garnish someone's wages or place a lien on their mortgage because they can't afford to purchase insurance," he said. "At the end of the day, the person is still poor. Californians deserve a single-payer system that will guarantee real health care for everyone." When Yee was asked what could be done to pass SB 840, which had been vetoed by the governor in 2006, but passed again in the Senate last year, Yee said a massive education campaign was needed to show people that a government-administered health care system could be effective. "We also have to get labor fully on board behind single-payer," Yee said. "I understand the idea of getting part of universal health care, but if you get a bad bill, it will set back the effort to get universal health care." About Yee Yee emigrated at the age of 3 to San Francisco from China. After attending San Francisco's public schools, he received his bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley, his master's degree from San Francisco State University and his doctorate in child psychology at the University of Hawaii. Yee worked in various mental health and school settings and served for four years in the California State Assembly as a representative for District 8, which comprises parts of San Francisco and San Mateo counties. Yee was elected to the State Senate in November 2006 with more than 78 percent of the vote. He is the first Chinese American ever elected to the California State Senate and first Asian American elected to the Legislature's upper house in 40 years.