 And welcome back to In the Studio here at Davis Media Access. This is the COVID-19 remote production version. And we're really glad that you're tuned in. You can find all of this programming on DCTV.Davismedia.org and also check out Davis Media Access on YouTube for a fabulous archive. I'm really pleased today to welcome back my guest. She's a longtime friend and someone I interviewed last year about her work with healthcare for all in California. I'd like to welcome Milly Bronstein. Welcome, Milly. Oh, welcome. I mean, yes, thank you very much. Good to see you, Robert. Good to see you too. So I know that you are fresh off a huge meeting today and we're gonna get to that. But first, let's just kind of start at the beginning and remind people you are the chair of the Yolo County Chapter of a statewide organization that is advocating for single-payer healthcare. Tell us a little bit more about when the organization came into being and what you've been doing during that time. Okay, the organization came into being in the late 90s following a failed initiative for a single-payer in California. And so single-payer advocates who all got together and formed a large coalition and called it healthcare for all. And so there's chapters now throughout the state of California. And so the movement has been advocating for single-payer for that time, successfully had two bills passed and vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. But we're in the process of moving forward. Great. And this is so timely. As I think you know, I've been doing a lot of programming around COVID-19 and its local impacts. And the pandemic has really highlighted all the inequities in our healthcare and other systems. So this is a very important conversation. I mentioned you are fresh off a big meeting. In fact, I think it's wrapping as we're recording this on August 13th. What was the purpose of the meeting and what were some of the outcomes? Okay, well, in California, there's been a lot of work done to move California toward a single-payer system where you have a unified financing system that includes everybody in the state. And throughout the rolling out of the Affordable Care Act, which is the federal legislation now that California has to respond to. And there's an opportunity to get waivers if the state has something in place that covers people just as well if not better. So as in moving forward now that the Affordable Care Act is up and implemented, then a commission was formed by, well, it's been in formation, but it's finalized with Governor Newsom. And so that they have appointed, he has appointed members to that commission as have this assembly and the Senate. And so they are charged with looking and studying what we need to do to get a unified financing system in California that will provide healthcare coverage for everybody. That's a big development in the last year. Yeah, that's what was in it. But one of the things I always wonder one of the things I always wonder about is, there are other countries who have implemented similar single payer systems and they do it. And yet there seems to be nothing but barriers here in this country. So what gets in the way? Traditionally, it's been the after the war, I think people were trying to figure out how to access and get healthcare. So some of the companies then formed some insurance possibilities for their workers. And so the idea of having insurance caught on. And so there was a proliferation of like the Blue Cross, which was a major innovation in the United States. So that traditionally has been there. And so people are used to that and a lot of the industry that grew up around that really has fought the notion of having a single financing system. I think there's fear of the unknown here and real concern that there will be some changes in how people are earning their money with you won't be having the corporate involvement that is there now. Yeah, I think what stands in the way is in a word profit. So you mentioned this meeting today. There were some deliverables that were turned over to the commission. Can you talk about those a little bit? Yes, they were to turn in a report to the governor and the legislature. It was due in July and of course with the COVID-19 situation. So many of the staff that are involved in that their attention is devoted to the COVID crisis. And so they extended it until August. And so that this was giving a state of the affairs of what currently is going on in California what some of the issues are. And certainly through the news, I imagine most everybody is aware of how fragmented our system is and how disadvantaged and unjust really. So that people have this varying ability to access care and there's a lot of falling through the gaps. So anyway, they highlighted those issues. And then we're talking about then some of the barriers now in order to moving to a unified financing system. And so that some of the initial thinking about how to move that direction was presented this morning. And so there's a lot of work to be done but there's some real expertise working very hard here in California. Right, I mentioned that you are the chair of the Yolo County chapter. So that makes me think there are other chapters of this organization around. And you're basically grown spokes who have been working for years as far as I can tell for years to push this forward. So a lot of work, what comes next? Can we break that down a little bit? Well, the public education is extremely important and the corporate control over so much of how money is being spent in the United States has really hampered the ability to get an accurate message out. The media seems to be pretty well responding to misinformation that they receive. Some of it, the industry really has a very excellent system of getting their message out about it's socialized medicine, we're gonna go broke, it's gonna cost too much. So that there's a lot of misinformation out there that we need to help the public understand what it is that would happen and what it means to them. So that with a unified financing system, yes, they will pay some more taxes but they won't have to pay any insurance premiums and they will get more benefits and everybody in California will be covered under this. So that's the direction we're going now is working with the public and then also with our legislators because they have to pass the laws and we have to make it politically feasible for them to do so. Right, are you aware, are there other similar grassroots initiatives and people working with legislators in other states or is this a California out front and alone on this? No, there's the whole West Coast is working on it, Hawaii, Alaska. I think there's 26 states right now that are very actively working on it. There's a national group called that they get together for discussions and sharing ideas. I think, I don't know for sure if we're further ahead than most of the states but there's a lot of activity going on in New York that are getting pretty close to, I think. But it's one thing to introduce a bill, another one to get it through. Yeah, yeah, well, that's good to hear that other states are on that path as well. And now I'm wondering how the November elections is going to impact what's happening at the state level. Well, I think we all recognize that with the current administration, there's a threat to completely defund the Affordable Care Act in terms of trying to get waivers to do something statewide with the control that's there now that can be very uncertain. In fact, any funding for healthcare on the state level from the federal government which we depend greatly on is very much in jeopardy. So probably as other people have been telling you that there's a lot of activity throughout the state to change administrations and also change people who are sitting in Congress and in the Senate as well as here in the state, you know, making those kinds of moves. And there is some federal legislation that's been introduced that there's two single-payer bills that are in Congress right now that are being held up. But nonetheless, they're there and they're not being talked about very much. The candidate Bernie Sanders, of course, very much brought it out into the public where people now are actively talking about it, working on it, debating. And so that that is probably been one of the biggest boons to the movement is the press has to cover that because he's a political candidate. You know, they're making those debates because I don't know that the general public, given has any idea that as much work has been going on in California for over 30 years. And so, you know, because everybody's just told this is the way it is. And, you know, we're gonna get more people insured. And so somehow that having insurance seems to be the goal rather than looking at having access to healthcare. Right, right. Insurance is not, doesn't guarantee that you're going to get the care you need. Yeah, insurance does not help care. Exactly. And, you know, the problem for people isn't just the the premiums. It's the, you know, even with insurance, the co-pays can be really high. A hospital stay or, you know, treatment for something like cancer can bankrupt people. I mean, that's the kind of situations that people are faced with. We're down to our last few minutes. So I want to, I know we have a slide or a title with your website on it. And so we're gonna bring that up. And I get your newsletter, which is how I was kind of moved to reach out to you again. It jogged my memory. It's always very informative. And often there's a call to action. You know, you are asked to call a legislator. You asked to write a letter or something. Is there anything currently on the table that you're seeking public engagement with? Certainly in terms of being aware of the commission and sending input into the commission and be aware of what they're doing. So I did send you, I think it was yesterday, a link to the commission and to, you can access their press meetings. They've been meeting now since January. They had a very slow start from the time that the legislation was there. You can find information about the commission on the healthcare for all website. And then also, as we are having our candidate forms, talk to here, it would be Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguilacuri and to Senator Dodd and just, you know, say we want healthcare to be top or very high on your priorities. And this is what's happening to me so that they can hear from their constituents to understand the urgency because there's more people that are getting delays with our current system. They may get denied going to a professional venue too. And we end up with a lot of untoward consequences. So we need to make our legislators very aware of it. And also talk to Garamendi too, our congressman because he needs to hear from his constituents and understand how dire the need is, like, you know, in Yolo County, the numbers now that are unemployed. So they've lost their insurance and there's not many options right now that are very viable and it's getting more dire. Yeah. Well, I want to thank you. I know you've had, you're fresh off a four-hour commission meeting. You're doing this interview so I hope you have a chance to rest and recoup this afternoon. I think I really appreciate it, yeah. Yeah, the website again was healthcareforall.org and that is the website for healthcareforall.California and we've been speaking with Millie Bronstein who chairs the Yolo County chapter. Millie, thank you so much for your time and for continuing to do this work. I feel like this is, your group has done very quiet very steady work for quite a few years now and I hope that it begins to come forward and really get some attention at this point in time. So thank you. Great. Yeah, thank you. All right. Thank you, Robin. You've been watching in the studio, not in the studio. We're recording remotely during COVID-19 and a tip of the hat to our studio manager, Diane Dodoshka, who makes this happen every time I sit here in front of the camera and talk to you. Thanks so much for tuning in and see you next time.