State Treasurer John Chiang visits Fullerton to talk Senate health care bill, education

June 24--FULLERTON -- The state Treasurer is backing studies that project a loss of 209,000 California jobs if the Senate GOP version of Obamacare replacement is signed into law.

John Chiang, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate traveling the state, said the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, as proposed in the draft bill released Thursday, would put 9 percent of jobs in the state recovered since the recession "in harm's way."

"And not only the loss of jobs," Chiang said. "But people's standard of living, standard of life. Additionally, what (the Senate bill) does to California's financial and fiscal picture would create great pause."

Studies show that nationwide the health care industry, in part because of the ACA, employs 1 in 9 Americans. But rising costs are overwhelming state and federal budgets, experts say.

Though he has not yet reviewed the Senate bill, Vince Ramos of Placentia, favors a repeal of the ACA.

The 36-year-old private security guard and part-time college student said he signed up for Obamacare with the understanding it wasn't going to "cost an arm and a leg" for him and his wife.

But their premium was $500 a month, he said, and he had to pay other out-of-pocket medical bills. Ramos canceled his health insurance in 2015.

"People think it's affordable and it's not," he said.

Chiang said the ACA isn't perfect, but has contributed to a job boom and 4 million Californians gained health care coverage under Obamacare. "97 percent of kids in California have coverage now," he said.

Chiang suggested fixing the ACA's weaknesses rather than "having a dramatic pullback," he said. "Everyday Californians, they're very, very scared."

The draft bill proposes tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and rolls back funding for Medicaid and community health clinics -- including Planned Parenthood -- that are used by 1 in 6 Californians.

The state would have a greater obligation to pay for those services, Chiang said. "People already are paying higher taxes for a whole wide array of services, so can we find additional revenues to cover people who will lose a portion or all of their health care?

"When (people) are not covered, their health care practices change," he said. "Instead of going in early, getting preventative care, getting early treatment at an affordable cost, they end up at a county emergency facility which ends up costing the taxpayers and the system a whole lot more money."

Chiang also cautioned against potential cuts in funding for the CalFresh food stamp program and for education across all levels.

"When you think about the innovation here," he said, "the best academics, the best researchers coming to California because of the ingenuity that's happening, and you want to pull funding back, that's not only detrimental to California, that's detrimental to America."

The Treasurer said he was still reviewing the U.S. Senate's draft bill to assess how Californians who get insurance through their employer would be affected, as well as the differences between the American Health Care Act that narrowly passed the House of Representatives in May and the upper house's bill.

"The larger question is: What is the most effective and efficient system?" Chiang said. The U.S. pays the most for health care, he said, but doesn't have the best health care outcomes.

"So something's wrong with the system."

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