Massachusetts made big news recently when it passed a universal healthcare law. California lawmakers have long tried to reach consensus on offering Californians some relief from the high cost of medical treatment. In fact, California lawmakers are considering seven healthcare bills this legislative session alone.
We sat down with Assemblyman Keith Richman - a doctor turned lawmaker - who has authored his fair-share of healthcare bills to talk about what’s so hard about healthcare reform in California.
Update November 22, 2006
Assemblyman Keith Richman was termed out of office this year. He ran for the Republican nomination for California State Treasurer in the June 2006 primary but lost to Claude Parrish. (Parrish lost to Democrat Bill Lockyer in the November election.)
In leaving office, Richman - a moderate Republican who often found himself isolated in the patrician politics of Sacramento - kept his humor intact. Below is his parting email to colleagues and friends.
“The events of these final days of my last Assembly term, particularly those dealing with the independent redistricting measure, have galvanized my commitment to political reform. With 500,000 new residents each year, the Legislature’s dysfunction is hobbling California’s future and has pushed serious policy making to the ballot which often burdens voters with complex decisions elected officials are paid to make.
“Last year I sent out the attached Dear Colleague letter asking other members to reflect on their roles and commit to restoring our representative democracy. I received no response. This year I decided to use humor to make the same point with the attached satirical House Resolution 36 supporting Pluto’s status as a planet. I got 53 coauthors.
“Political reform must be a priority for all who care about California’s future. Sadly, there is probably a much better chance that the Assembly will vote on HR 36 than independent redistricting.”
- Keith Richman
Read Richman’s satirical House Resolution 36.
- Extended version of our interview with Assemblyman Keith Richman, California Connected
- Contact your local representative, California State Legislature
- Assemblyman Keith Richman’s bio
- California Healthcare Foundation - pending health care legislation for 2006
- Nation and Richman Bipartisan Healthcare Legislation. The bill was killed in committee
- “Healthcare Bill Is A Vital Sign of Bipartisan Progress”, Los Angeles Times article
May 26th, 2006 at 9:51 pm
Two of your major stories tonight (5/26) dealt with the health care crisis in CA. I can’t understand how you can continue to cover these health care/coverage problems and ignore SB840. And why didn’t you have Senator Sheila Kuehl on instead of Keith Richmond? His bill never even got out of committee. Her SB840 has been passed by the Senate and has passed the Health Committee in the Assembly–it proposes a single-payer universal plan that would cover all CA residents and would save us in California bilions of dollars–and she has the research to back up these claims for her very-carefully written, planned-out bill that would give us a workable health coverage SYSTEM. I don’t think you can seriously cover health care problems in this state and not give Kuehl’s bill some air time on CC–maybe the whole program, one of these Fridays.