California Speaks
California Speaks was a statewide deliberative forum on health care reform that took place on August 11, 2007 in eight counties in California: Humboldt, Sacramento, Alameda (Oakland), Fresno, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego. Nearly 3,500 people representing all segments of the population were randomly recruited to participate in this day-long discussion of health care reform proposals that are before the California legislature. Background Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California proposed comprehensive health insurance reform for California on January 9, 2007 that would lead to nearly universal health insurance coverage in the state. The plan involved a complex set of requirements that employers provide health insurance or pay into a state insurance pool, that health care providers and insurers pay a new fee, and that all individuals be legally required to carry health insurance. The state would use the new fees to expand free or low-cost health insurance to those with low incomes, would allow higher income individuals to purchase “catastrophic” insurance, and would require insurance companies to sell insurance to any applicant (called guaranteed issue) By mid-year, two different Democratic proposals that overlapped the Governor’s proposal had merged into Assembly Bill 8 (AB8) and were seen as