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Passing Proposition 67 Will Help Fund
Emergency Medicine in California |
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By Crystal M. Litz
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It’s
something every California physician, nurse, and health care provider
knows all too well: California’s emergency and trauma system is
overwhelmed, underfunded, and lacks the resources to provide quality
lifesaving care. Over the last decade,
66 hospital emergency rooms and trauma centers in our state have closed.
Two closed in the past two weeks, and many more are facing this
inevitability. If facilities close, children, families, and seniors will
lose emergency access to doctors, nurses, critical medical equipment,
medicines, and essential emergency care. Fewer hospitals and emergency
rooms will mean longer ambulance rides for victims of heart attacks,
strokes, car accidents, and other medical emergencies. For many emergency
patients, rapid-response treatment is the difference between life and
death. This
November, WE CAN DO SOMETHING about
this crisis in California. Proposition 67—The
Emergency Medical Care Initiative—will help ensure that emergency
medical care is available. It will keep local hospital emergency rooms and
trauma centers open in communities throughout California. It will provide
equipment and training to firefighters and paramedics, who respond first
to emergencies. It supports local health clinics so that our emergency
rooms and trauma centers are reserved for true emergencies. It will
upgrade our 9-1-1 emergency telephone system. Proposition 67 is good
for patients. It’s good for health care providers. It’s good for
California. The funds raised by Prop 67 would go directly to local
hospitals, emergency rooms, and trauma centers to improve access to
rapid-response care, close to home. Proposition 67 would
raise an estimated $550 million annually to fund lifesaving emergency
medical care and community clinics in California. In San Mateo County,
Prop 67 would mean $10 million a year to fund emergency medical services. To fund better
emergency services, the initiative would increase the 9-1-1 surcharge on
phone bills from 0.72 percent to 3.72 percent on calls made within
California. The surcharge would be capped at 50 cents a month for
residential telephone customers. Senior citizens and others on basic
lifeline rates would be exempt. The average cell phone bill of $35 would
increase about ninety cents. The initiative also provides for strict
auditing and oversight of the funds.
Prop 67 funds would
remain separate from all other state funds and may not be taken by the
Legislature. Funding will be divided as follows: •
.75 percent to upgrade the 9-1-1 system; • 3.75 percent to train and equip first
responders (firefighters, paramedics, EMS); • 5 percent to provide funds to community
clinics that provide urgent care services; • 30.5 percent to offset uncompensated care
provided by emergency physicians; • 60 percent to offset uncompensated care
provided by emergency and trauma hospitals. Recent polling shows
the initiative has an excellent chance of passing this November. The
campaign already has garnered impressive statewide attention and a long
list of endorsements from the medical community and beyond. It is
supported by the Coalition to Preserve Emergency Care (CPEC), comprised of
the California Medical Association, the Emergency Nurses Association of
California, California Professional Firefighters, California Chapter of
the American College of Emergency Physicians (CalACEP), and the California
Primary Care Association. San Mateo County endorsers include County
Supervisors Michael Nevin and Jerry Hill, State Senator Byron Sher, and
County Sheriff Don Horsley, along with the San Mateo County Medical
Association. Our path to victory in
November is simple and direct. We know we have the best message.
And it’s absolutely certain we have the best messengers. When you
compare our coalition of physicians, nurses, and firefighters to the
opposition’s support from large out-of-state phone companies, it’s
clear whom voters will trust and listen to. We’re planning to take our
message directly to the voters through old-fashioned, time-tested
grassroots campaigning. The campaign office in
San Mateo County has just opened for business. We have a storefront office
located at 83 37th Avenue in San Mateo. Here’s
what our local campaign plan includes: •
Phone banks every Monday – Thursday evening from 5:30 pm to 8:30
pm; •
Visibility every weekend at events throughout San Mateo County; •
Literature distribution at targeted transit stops throughout San
Mateo County. Please
help us spread the word about Prop 67 and what it will mean for San Mateo
and California. Please volunteer to •
Arrange for your office staff to make phone calls one night a week
from the San Mateo campaign headquarters. We’ll provide phones (we have
10 lines available), lists, scripts, refreshments, and inspiration! •
Volunteer to help with weekend or weekday rushhour visibility
events. •
Distribute/Display Prop 67 materials in your office. Wear a Prop 67
button on your coat. Call our campaign office and we’ll deliver lots of
eyecatching materials straight to your home or office, or drop by anytime •
Make a contribution to the Yes on Prop 67 campaign. You can
contribute online at www.saveemergencycare.org. •
Serve as an “expert spokesperson” for the San Mateo “Yes on
67 Campaign.” We
have the right issue, we have the right people on our side, and we have
the right plan to win. All that’s missing is your
Crystal M. Litz is San Mateo “Yes on Prop 67” campaign
director.
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