Michael J. Herman
My name is Michael J. Herman, and I live in Burbank, California. And my concern about health care, the health care issue, is that because health care is such a big issue a lot of people won’t pursue objectives past where they are. They won’t go get a better job, or a different job, or a job, period, because to give up the insurance that they have could be more devastating than getting a better job, or getting a job. Someone that’s on Medicare and Medi-Cal, or state-subsidized health insurance, is better off being unemployed and poor, to have that great medical coverage, than they are to be employed and a little solvent, and have no coverage. There’s no—it’s either you work and you’re covered, or if you work at all you don’t get covered by state coverage. There’s got to be some sort of marriage between working and being insured, and not being able to work, or not working, and being insured. I have a colleague who works a job, a very hard job, and still cannot get the coverage that she needs, and can’t afford to leave her job because she can’t afford to do without health insurance.
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There is Widespread Support for Reform
 81% of voters agree with the statement "it should be public policy that government guarantee that all Californians have access to affordable health care insurance or other health care coverage."
Source: Field Poll, "California Voter Views of the Health Care System (Part 1 of 2)," January 3, 2007.
 71 percent of Californians are worried about the rising costs of health care premiums, deductibles, co-payments. A similar majority (71%) is worried about being able to pay the costs of their health care premiums, deductibles and co-payments. Concerns about having access to quality doctors and health service services (68%) or having to wait or put off getting needed care (67%) are also cited by greater than two in three voters statewide.
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