Group seeks health answers. - The Record (Stockton, CA)

Byline: Joe Goldeen, The Record, Stockton, Calif.

Dec. 30--STOCKTON - A half-dozen citizens with deep concerns about health-care reform went on a mission to the front lines Thursday.

The mostly middle-class Stocktonians, some retired but all with health insurance, paid a visit to the Virgil Gianelli Medical Clinic in the shadow of the Crosstown Freeway. They learned what happens on a daily basis at the safety-net clinic operated by St. Mary's Interfaith Community Services and met some of its patients, among the poorest of the poor in our community. 'We're here to learn about the uninsured,' said organizer and activist Stanley Thomas of Stockton. Juan Leal is one of those. He lives four blocks from the clinic but never knew it was there until three months ago, when he was diagnosed with walking pneumonia at San Joaquin General Hospital and put on a respirator. At 65, he has to lug around an oxygen tank whenever he leaves home.

He first came to the United States when he was 12 but often returned to his native Mexico. In 1980, he became a full-time resident and obtained a legal Social Security card, but he still lacks permanent-residency status. St. Mary's workers, along with Catholic Charities, have been trying to improve Leal's living standards, including helping him apply for disability benefits from a job injury and emergency Medi-Cal coverage due to his health problems. What the concerned citizens learned from hearing Leal's story is that it is becoming more common in Stockton, the state and throughout the nation, according to Thomas, a retired aerospace engineer. Those who who aren't caught by the safety net provided by places such as the Gianelli clinic and San Joaquin General, often suffer disastrous consequences or die. 'The irrational, dysfunctional health-care system that private industry provides is a cost-unconscious, fee-for-service system that leaves tens of millions of Americans uninsured, drives family doctors out of business, encourages high-priced specialists, discourages cost-effective and outcomes-based medicine, discourages preventive medicine, encourages costly defensive medicine and spawns a lucrative health-care insurance industry that has a costly 25 percent administrative cost compared to 2 percent for Medicare,' Thomas said. After attending a national conference in July at the University of California, Berkeley, on progressive spiritual activism, Thomas - who has devoted much of his retirement to learning about health-care reform - decided the time was right for action.

He and six other like-minded community members have created the Spiritual Progressives for Health Care Cost Containment. Thomas provided the group Thursday with a number of tasks to push their effort forward, including: A[c] Promote Senate Bill 840, also known as Health Care for All, that will create a statewide, single-payer system to insure all Californians. Included in this task is obtaining an editorial endorsement from The Record. A[c] Bring Stanford professor Dr. Alain Enthoven's cost-reducing Health Care Insurance System to public agencies, including the city of Stockton, San Joaquin County and Stockton Unified School District. A[c] Lobby managers of San Joaquin General Hospital to achieve cost containment. A[c] Seek common ground with other organizations with similar agendas, such as Health Care for All San Joaquin. This organization can be reached at (209) 951-0499 or cjbhcfasj@hotmail.com

A[c] Lobby state and federal lawmakers to push for studies to determine where health-care costs are spiraling out of control and contribute to escalating health-insurance premiums, and by how much. 'The consequences for millions of individuals and families is horrendous,' Thomas said, noting that medical bills are at the root of 50 percent of personal bankruptcies. Contact reporter Joe Goldeen at (209) 546-8278 orjgoldeen@recordnet.com

Copyright (c) 2005, The Record, Stockton, Calif.

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