San Francisco Chronicle
February 4, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO
Núñez shops health care proposal, says insuring kids is top priority

By Vanessa Hua
Chronicle Staff Writer

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez took his comprehensive health care proposal on the road Saturday, in the second in a series of public meetings around the state.

Billed as a "town hall," the event at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco provided a platform for Núñez, D-Los Angeles, to promote his plan to provide health care to all Californians, one of several competing proposals in the Capitol, including the one Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced last month.

Núñez said he wants to incorporate the best features of each of these proposals, along with suggestions from town halls in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Fresno and Sacramento.

"In the California Legislature, this is the top of the agenda," Núñez said, standing before huge photos of smiling doctors and children looking at X-rays or getting checkups.

A top priority is insuring all children, regardless of their legal status. "The only document I'm concerned with is a clean bill of health," he said to cheers.

He praised San Francisco's goal of providing an estimated 82,000 uninsured residents with access to affordable medical coverage.

About 150 small-business owners, activists, service providers, educators, retirees, union members, and more attended the meeting, along with Bay Area Assembly members Mark Leno and Fiona Ma, both San Francisco Democrats; Mary Hayashi, D-Castro Valley; Jim Beall, D-San Jose; and John Laird, D-Santa Cruz.

After brief remarks from each official, the event began with a panel highlighting different perspectives on the health care debate. Speakers included a small-business owner, an uninsured health care worker and groups addressing children's health.

Dr. Andrew Bindman, chief of internal medicine at San Francisco General Hospital, recalled a recent case in which a woman arrived with a huge tumor in her abdomen. She put off going to the doctor because she was uninsured, and by the time she sought help, there was little they could do.

"This is a complete travesty," he said, adding that while health care itself here is good, poor coverage led to such cases.

Gwen Kaplan, owner of Ace Mailing, offers insurance to 20 employees because "we want to keep our employees, and we don't want people to miss work because they're sick."

At the same time, she's worried that rising prescription drug costs will make it difficult for her company to stay competitive with rivals that do not offer insurance, she said.

For about a half hour, audience members questioned officials on how Núñez's proposal would address administrative waste, pharmaceutical profits and the needs of the indigent, among other issues. Some also weighed in with concerns about cuts in funding for mental health and about treatment for children with asthma.

When asked how to persuade Republicans legislators to pass a health care proposal, Leno suggested that constituent families with children should pay them a visit in their district, saying lawmakers should "hear their own voters."