|
GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA
www.cagreens.org
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Contact: Sara Amir, spokesperson 310.270.7106 saraamir@earthlink.net
Kevin McKeown, spokesperson 310.393.3639 kevin@mckeown.net
Beth Moore Haines, spokesperson 530.277.0610 beth@ncws.com
SACRAMENTO, Ca. (March 23, 2005) - The Green Party of California
Wednesday described as "heartless" a scheme revealed this week
by the Schwarzenegger administration that would allow the state to
collect assets from the heirs of elderly and disabled Californians
almost even before they are buried.
The Department of Health Services, claiming the
state is acting because federal law requires the state to recover the
cost of Medi-Cal benefits provided low-income elderly who die, said that
by declaring an "emergency" it need not even have public
hearings before acting.
"As taxpayers, we expect the state to exercise
fiscal responsibility to meet its expenses. Single-payer health care
would save us fully half of what we collectively spend on health care,
and it's more financially sound than shaking down the families of the
elderly and disabled for their last coins," said Beth Moore Haines,
GPCA spokesperson.
"This action is, in effect, a scheme to pocket
any loose change the state can find, or dig up, from the still-grieving
heirs of recently deceased, low-income relatives, is heartless,"
she added.
The Green Party has long held that Democratic and
Republican politicians - those whose votes are influenced with
corporate-backed campaign contributions - should ignore insurance
company special interests and vote in a single-payer, universal health
care plan.
"Under such a plan, everyone would be covered
and the state of California would actually profit financially. And then,
such cruel policies such as this Medi-Cal asset collection plan would
not be even be contemplated," said Moore Haines.
|
