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Contact: Jim Graham
press@Sprenger2008.com
(831) 234-4337

Assembly candidate Barbara Sprenger calls for action now to reform California’s health care gridlock

October 30, 2007 – Barbara Sprenger, candidate for California’s 27th Assembly District, today called for major reform of the health care delivery system that is leaving millions of state residents without affordable health care. She reinforced her support of a Single Payer system.

“Our failure to reform our health care system is putting our nation at a real economic disadvantage,” Sprenger said. “High wage jobs are going overseas because American companies can’t compete against businesses in nations with comprehensive health care systems. General Motors, for example, now pays more per car for health care than it does for steel.”

Nearly one third of every health care dollar goes to insurance company, hospital and doctor overhead. Costs are driven up even more by a system that leaves the uninsured with no health care option other than a visit to an expensive emergency room. 

“The challenge with most of the plans being discussed in Sacramento is that they treat the symptoms, not the cause, of our health care malaise,” Sprenger said.  “We won’t truly improve the health of our state until we cut the colossal waste, inefficiency and inaction out of the current health insurance system.”

The often-maligned Medicare system has an overhead of less than three percent. Compare that to the private health care system that wastes nearly one out of every three dollars.

The cost of treating a sick patient with a chronic condition in the emergency room can be more than $100,000 a year. Studies show we could save almost fifty percent by redirecting patients to primary care.

“All of these problems do have a solution – a Single Payer system in which every Californian has choice and access to affordable primary care,” Sprenger said. “It is the system that is used in virtually every other industrialized nation in the world. Our current system is the reason why Americans spend nearly twice as much on health care as other comparable countries, yet have a lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and, in most respects, lower quality of care.”

State Senator Sheila Kuehl has proposed comprehensive reform based on Single Payer. Sprenger is asking District voters to sign an online petition in favor of this smart and proven plan. The petition is available on Sprenger’s website, www.sprenger2008.com.

“My own life experiences have taught me that we need common-sense reform of our health care system,” Sprenger said. “As a businesswoman, I have always provided health care for all of my employees, but I know first-hand how hard that can be. I lived for several years in England under a universal Single Payer health care system that I learned first-hand was fairer and more efficient than the “winner take all” health care lottery that describes the current American system.”

About Barbara Sprenger
Barbara Sprenger is a mother, a businesswoman and a community leader. Her experiences range from serving as a school board trustee, to running a green business, to organizing community to protect local water. Please visit www.sprenger2008.com to learn more.