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MARIN COUNTY'S NEWS
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State Wants To Collect From Poor Dead Californians
SACRAMENTO, Ca. (March 23, 2005) - The Green Party of California Wednesday
described as "heartless" a scheme revealed this week by the
Schwarzenegger administration that would allow the state to collect assets from
the heirs of elderly and disabled Californians almost even before they are
buried.
The Department of Health Services, claiming the state is acting because
federal law requires the state to recover the cost of Medi-Cal benefits
provided low-income elderly who die, said that by declaring an
"emergency" it need not even have public hearings before acting.
"As taxpayers, we expect the state to exercise fiscal responsibility to
meet its expenses. Single-payer health care would save us fully half of what we
collectively spend on health care, and it's more financially sound than shaking
down the families of the elderly and disabled for their last coins," said
Beth Moore Haines, GPCA spokesperson.
"This action is, in effect, a scheme to pocket any loose change the
state can find, or dig up, from the still-grieving heirs of recently deceased,
low-income relatives, is heartless," she added.
The Green Party has long held that Democratic and Republican politicians -
those whose votes are influenced with corporate-backed campaign contributions
- should ignore insurance company special interests and vote in a single-payer,
universal health care plan.
"Under such a plan, everyone would be covered and the state of California would actually profit financially.
And then, such cruel policies such as this Medi-Cal asset collection plan would
not be even be contemplated," said Moore Haines.