Healthcare Plank

General Preamble

The Ventura County Democratic Party (VCDP) asserts that healthcare is a human right, not a privilege.  The VCDP recognizes that the health and well-being of Californians cannot continue to be based on arbitrary private and public financial decisions.  Ventura County Democrats support an affordable high-quality single-payer plan that would provide privately-delivered, publicly-funded healthcare for all California residents.  An independent panel, free from healthcare industry influence, will oversee cost effectiveness, provider payment levels, and rate increases, as well as ensuring high-quality care.

Until legislation to provide a single-payer healthcare system, aka “Medicare For All” is passed and implemented, Democrats will continue to educate the public on its advantages and take all necessary interim steps to build a healthy future for all Californians.

To build a healthy future for all Californians, Democrats will:

Statement of Principle

Support universal access to health care by

• Supporting universal comprehensive healthcare that includes medical and dental care, preventive services, prescription drugs, mental health and substance abuse counseling and treatment, and full reproductive health services that respect a woman’s right to choose;
  
• Ensuring that national affordable healthcare provisions are enforced, especially provisions under the Affordable Care Act stipulating that pre-existing conditions do not result in denial of coverage and that excessive premiums and the practice of undue rescission is not allowed;
  
• Supporting efforts to strengthen Medi-Cal and Medicare;
  
• Ensuring that loss of employment does not cause a loss of healthcare;
  
• Ensuring that Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), currently allowable under Medicare and the ACA, do not result in denial of coverage and services;
  
• Promoting the goals of the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health and address healthcare disparities;
  
• Ensuring economic and physical access to multilingual healthcare services;
  
• Supporting efforts to expand the number of hospitals in Ventura County;
  

Guarantee timely and adequate funding by

• Ensuring the protection of funding for healthcare services, as mandated by voters, from being transferred or redirected for any other purpose;
  
• Supporting full funding of community clinics and health centers that serve low-income and homeless populations;
  
• Supporting timely and fair compensation to healthcare providers;
  
• Supporting affordable access to pharmaceuticals and durable medical goods, including lifting prohibitions on negotiating the cost of prescription drugs;
  

Guarantee quality medical service by

• Supporting improvement of the effectiveness of the Medical Board of California to ensure quality medical care and reduction of malpractice;
  
• Supporting reform of malpractice limits so that victims of medical malpractice receive full, fair, and timely compensation for injuries caused by the negligence of medical providers;
  
• Supporting the expansion and strengthening of hospice care and in-home support services, including adequate background checks prior to licensure, and the promotion of an in-home support services system;
  
• Supporting the legalization of medical marijuana cooperatives, their licensing, monitoring and availability in Ventura County;
  

Guarantee patients’ rights by

• Ensuring effective ombudsman programs, including the California Long Term Care Ombudsman Association (CLT);
  
• Ensuring enforcement of the Patient's Bill of Rights;
  
• Ensuring respect for patients' rights to privacy and freedom to have control over their lives with fully informed consent to any medical decision;
  
• Supporting simplified language and simpler plan choices for ease of understanding when making health coverage decisions;
  

Promote substantial investments in the advancement of medical knowledge by

• Investing  in education, incentives, and other means to prevent disease and promote healthy living;
  
• Investing in the development of science-based medicine through the University of California system;

Guarantee "Death with Dignity" rights by

• Supporting the right of any competent adult, suffering intractable pain as a consequence of a fatal illness, who has been medically diagnosed as having not more than six months to live, to obtain the assistance of medical doctors in painlessly ending her or his own life.  We are also aware that such a process may be open to potential abuses and urge that safeguards be taken so that this right of patient self-determination will not be misused by either family members or health care personnel to precipitate the demise of any disabled person who desires to continue living;
  

Statement in Support of Specified Actions by Government Agencies

• At the State level, we support comprehensive quality healthcare by protecting SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program) coverage for all children in California;
  
• Encourage each county-level health exchange (both for individuals as well as employers of 50 or more) to provide a true competitive choice of available healthcare plans;
  
• At the State level, we support a requirement that all HMOs and health insurers obtain prior approval from the state before rates can be increased; and
  

Statement of Opposition to Actions Directed Against Public Healthcare Systems and Agencies

• Strongly oppose any efforts to privatize any part of the public health care system.