October 30, 2007

Núñez 'compromise': AB 8?

In audio comments released by his office today, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez says health care negotiations are not on “life support” but are probably in the “critical care” unit. To get a deal, he says, the governor has to make the plans in his proposal more affordable; allow the state to buy prescription drugs in bulk on behalf of its residents; and make sure the system is under “some kind of control,” so that “every Californian who has health care now and has preexisting conditions can be assured that their health care needs will be fully met by any health care proposal we put on the table.”

Núñez says he and the governor are getting “closer and closer” to a deal but are still a ways away.

Then he lists three things the governor must do:

--Ditch his lottery proposal. It’s too risky, he says. Its prospects are uncertain, and voters don’t like it.
--Make the plans more affordable.
--Allow bulk purchasing of drugs by the state.

Put another way, it sounds as if the speaker is saying if the governor changes his proposal to make it identical to AB 8, the bill the governor vetoed, then Núñez will go along.

Posted by dweintraub on October 30, 2007 12:38 PM