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Co-Author Sings Prop. 186 Praises : Health: Dr. Lingappa urges Leisure World audience to back measure to provide state-run insurance program, claiming it would save billions of dollars.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

The co-author of an initiative that would create a state-run health insurance program urged an audience of more than 600 people at Leisure World Wednesday to throw their political weight behind a measure he said would save billions of dollars.

Dr. Vishu Lingappa, a professor of internal medicine at UC San Francisco, took on the insurance industry and initiative critics in a fiery address that portrayed the measure as a growing grass-roots movement.

The measure, Proposition 186, would provide cradle-to-grave health insurance for all Californians by imposing taxes, and, most likely, folding in existing government financing.

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Lingappa said the tax increases would be more than offset by savings in insurance premiums, deductibles and co-payments.

A single state fund administered by an elected health insurance commissioner would pay for medical bills, mental health coverage, prescription drugs and long-term care, including nursing homes. The health insurance industry would virtually be gutted, with nothing left to cover but such marginal services as cosmetic surgery.

Lingappa accused the health insurance industry of spreading “distortions, lies, and ridiculous, outlandish claims” about the initiative. He estimated that $20 billion a year is wasted by the industry--money which he said could be directly used for patient care.

Conscious of his mostly elderly audience, he said the single-payer plan would safeguard existing Medicare benefits and add much-needed coverage for long-term care and prescription drugs. Without the cost controls that the initiative provides, he said, “Medicare is on the chopping block for the near future.”

Lingappa’s remarks occasionally were interrupted by applause from the audience at Leisure World, which, with 17,000 residents, packs considerable political punch.

Initiative supporters have their work cut out for them, Lingappa acknowledged in an interview.

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In a Times poll earlier this month, about two-thirds of likely voters statewide said they had not heard enough about the measure to form an opinion. After the measure was described to voters, the initiative trailed by a wide margin, 23% to 63%.

Lingappa was critical of the poll, saying it did not spell out the initiative’s benefits, but he acknowledged that more public awareness is crucial to the campaign. Nonetheless, he said he believes the initiative has a good chance of being approved.

The measure has been adamantly opposed by the California Chamber of Commerce, which contends that it would devastate the state’s economy--a notion that Lingappa vigorously contested.

The California Medical Assn. has balked because the initiative would create an elected office of health commissioner to manage the state-run system. CMA spokeswoman Danielle Walters said last week that many of the organization’s members favor universal coverage and some kind of single-payer system, but believe elected officials have not been very successful in managing the health-care system.

Under the proposition, the state-run insurance program would be offered as an alternative to private health insurance. Instead of the premiums now paid by individuals, corporations and their workers, the state would collect a 2.5% surtax on all taxable income up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for families. The tax would be 5% at higher income levels.

Corporations would pay a payroll tax of 4.4% to 8.9%, depending on the number of workers. For additional funding, a $1-per-pack cigarette tax would be imposed. Other revenue would come from what is now spent in various state and federal programs, including Medicare--the federal program for the elderly and disabled--and the MediCal program for the poor.

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