Imagine going to the emergency room with abdominal pain only to find it closed because the nurses are on strike. This is what can happen when we have a single-payer health care system built by and for the California Nurses Association (Opinion, Feb. 6). There is no mention in the oped about the union benefit cost driver. Remember, we have approximately $150 billion in unfunded pension benefits for this state’s public employees, and the CNA wants to add to that.
I will offer a compromise, which is sorely needed in our politics. Let’s go with SB 562, the single-payer bill. But health care employees will be on a 401(k) plan like private sector employees, and there will be a no-strike clause. After all health care is for the patient, right? Would the CNA still support universal health care for this state?
William B. Ortendahl
Santa Clara
