Accomplishments
Healthcare
When
it comes to expanding access and improving health care, no Governor in
America over the last five years has insured more children, passed more
HMO reforms, or invested more in cancer and HIV/AIDS research and
treatment, than Governor Gray Davis.
Today, California leads the nation in health-care reform and serves as a model for other states.
#1 IN AMERICA - Health Insurance For Children
As
of July 5, 2003, California's Healthy Families Program has enrolled
667,000 children - a twelve-fold increase since Governor Davis took
office. Over that period, no state in America has enrolled more
children in its S-CHIP program than California.
Expansions in
both Healthy Families and Medi-Cal under GGD have moved more than one
million children out of the ranks of the uninsured. Overall, California
under Gov. Davis has seen the biggest two-year drop in the number of
uninsured Californians since those numbers have been recorded.
#1 IN AMERICA - Patient's Bill of Rights/HMO Reform
No Governor in America has signed more patient-protection laws or a stronger Patient's Bill of Rights.
The
Governor's HMO reforms have put the medical decisions back where they
belong - in the hands of patients and their doctors. They include:
• The right to external, independent reviews of health care decisions.
• The right to sue an HMO in cases of substantial harm.
• The right to cancer and diabetes screenings.
• The right to mental health treatment.
• The right to a second medical opinion.
• The right to privacy of medical records.
• The right to contraceptive coverage.
• The right to hospice care for the terminally ill.
• The right to coverage for all four phases of a clinical trial, for all cancers.
• Access to specialists on an ongoing basis for HIV/AIDS patients.
• Access to an annual, independent HMO report card.
In September 2002, The Governor significantly expanded these rights to include:
• The right to medically necessary prescription drugs.
• The right to timely access to a doctor.
• The right to maternity services without discrimination.
• Affordable health coverage for high-risk conditions.
#1 IN AMERICA - Department of Managed Health Care
To protect patients, Governor Davis established the Department of Managed Health Care, the first of its kind in America.
Already,
this Department has served 400,000 Californians. It has also helped
40,000 Californians take on their HMO's and win, enabling them to
receive treatment they were otherwise denied.
#1 IN AMERICA - Stem Cell Research
Governor
Davis kept California at the forefront of medical research and
scientific innovation by making California a safe-haven for
ground-breaking stem cell research.
#1 IN AMERICA - Cancer and HIV/AIDS Research and Treatment
Under Governor Davis, cancer and HIV/AIDS research and treatment programs have been funded at their highest level ever.
Gov.
Davis established new Breast and Prostate Cancer Treatment Programs. He
extended Medi-Cal to include low-income women with breast or cervical
cancer. He signed the toughest cancer clinical trials law in the nation.
He
signed first-of-its-kind legislation that allows workers with HIV/AIDS
to return to work without losing medical coverage. He expanded Medi-Cal
to include Californians infected with HIV. He increased investment in
the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, the largest of its kind in America,
providing life-sustaining drug treatment for 25,000 patients. And, he
signed into law California's HIV non-name reporting system which
recorded 20,943 HIV cases in its first year alone.
#1 IN AMERICA - Meeting the Nursing Challenge
To
improve patient care and the working conditions for CA's nurses, Gov.
Davis established the nation's first minimum nurse-to-patient staffing
ratios for acute care hospitals.
He also proposed a three-year
$60-million Nurse Workforce Initiative to build and train the statewide
nursing corps necessary to fulfill established nurse-to-patient
staffing ratios.
#1 IN AMERICA - Doctor's Bill of Rights
Gov.
Davis signed first-of-its-kind legislation to strengthen the position
of physicians in managed care contracting. It gives doctors the right
to accept no greater patient load than they can reasonably accommodate,
the right to negotiate significant changes to their contracts, the
right to be notified of changes in HMO policy and the right to
terminate a contract if no agreement can be reached on changes.
#1 IN AMERICA - A Woman's Right To Choose
Today, California is, hands down, the pro-choice state in America.
Each and every year, Gov. Davis has signed new laws to strengthen the reproductive rights of California women, including:
•
The Reproductive Privacy Act, ensuring that California stays
pro-choice, even if the U.S. Supreme Court fails to uphold Roe v. Wade.
• The Contraceptive Equity Act, requiring HMO's to cover FDA-approved methods of contraception.
•
The California Freedom of Access to Clinic and Church Entrances Act,
which cracks down on those who threaten the safety of our clinics.
Gov. Davis has also taken action to:
• Strengthen family planning services.
• Make significant investments in reducing teen pregnancy.
• Require medical residency programs to provide abortion training.
• Enable pharmacists to initiate emergency contraception.
• Provide emergency contraception for victims of sexual assault.
SB 2 Insuring the Uninsured
SB
2 (3003) by Senator John Burton (D-San Francisco) and Senator Jackie
Speier (D-Hillsborough) will enable almost 1.1 million uninsured
persons, representing 32 percent of uninsured employees, to obtain
health care coverage through their employers. It also includes
important protections for small businesses, which are exempted from the
requirement if they meet certain provisions.
As of January 1,
2006, the law will require employers with 200 or more workers to
provide "family" coverage to their employees. Employers will contribute
80 percent of the premium with employees paying the remaining 20
percent. As of January 1, 2007, the law will require employers with
50-199 employees to provide "employee only" coverage with a similar 80
percent/20 percent split.
Tobacco Prevention
Under Gov.
Davis, California's anti-tobacco campaign has been the largest and most
effective in the nation. It was so effective that R. J. Reynolds and
Lorillard Tobacco sued to stop it. The suit was dismissed in July, 2003.
Today,
California has the second lowest smoking rate in the nation. In
addition, six out of nine cancer types linked to tobacco use have a
lower incidence rate in California than the rest of the nation.
In
September 2002, Governor Davis signed bills to ensure that our tough
anti-tobacco laws are being enforced. He required age verification for
cigarettes and other tobacco products sold over the Internet or through
the mail, ensured that all state taxes are being fully paid on tobacco
purchases, and increased the penalty for possessing or purchasing
untaxed cigarettes.
He also signed legislation to expand smoke-free
zones around public buildings. In addition, he introduced a new
hard-hitting anti-smoking ad that graphically depicts the damage caused
by secondhand smoke.
Prescription Drug Benefit Program
In
1999, Gov. Davis signed a landmark prescription drug discount program
allowing Medicare beneficiaries without drug coverage, to receive
discounts for prescription drugs of 20-30 percent. In September of
2002, he signed legislation to make this program permanent and more
effective.
West Nile Virus
In 2000, long before the first
cases were identified in California, the Davis Administration
established a West Nile Virus Task Force and a comprehensive
surveillance program.
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Accomplishments
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