Dear San Jose Mercury News Editor:

Health Care Plan Fails Women, Girls

In the discussion of the governor’s health reform plan, there has been little talk about its impact on more than 50 percent of California’s population: women and girls.Already too many insured and uninsured women cannot afford the care they need. Yet, the governor’s proposal further threatens their health and financial well being: It is dangerously insufficient, inequitable and unaffordable. The governor’s proposal fails by forcing people to buy plans they can’t afford to use; forcing people to buy plans that don’t adequately protect their health; punishing people with pre-existing conditions; and giving another free ride to insurance companies at the public expense.

The Legislature and governor need to get back to work to provide a real solution this year. California’s women and girls deserve a better plan - and they need it soon.

Carlina Hansen
Executive Director, Women’s Community Clinic, San Francisco

Ellen R. Shaffer
Co-Director, Center for Policy Analysis, San Francisco

This letter to the editor from the Women’s Working Group on Universal Health Care originally ran in the San Jose Mercury News, October 26th 2007.

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