• Listen to this segment

Seemingly unfazed by their recent Senate loss in Massachusetts, Democrats are moving ahead with their efforts on healthcare reform. News reports abound of behind-the-scenes maneuvers to win over reluctant members of the party, particularly in the House, to back a bill which would reconcile both House and Senate versions which passed last year. Some liberal House Democrats are pushing to include a new publicly funded option in the final version of the bill, which is losing support among the public according to the latest polls. Republican state legislators are mounting efforts to pass state-wide constitutional amendments to ban any federal mandate to buy health insurance. Meanwhile, in California, the State Senate voted to pass a single-payer healthcare bill that would cover all Californians. The bill, authored by Senator Mark Leno, is in it’s third reincarnation. It was passed twice before, only to be vetoed twice by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

GUEST: Dr. Li-Hsia Wang, California Physicians Alliance

For more information, visit www.pnhp.org and www.californiaonecare.org.