NPTR 53

Featuring Anita Anderson, film and TV set medic, Dr. Steve Tarzynski, Department of Pediatrics Chair at Kaiser-Permanente, Maureen Cruz R.N. clinic nurse for LA County Dept. of health services.

PNHP California (PNHP CA) is the largest state chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP). We are physicians, medical students, health professionals and advocates who believe that access to high-quality health care is a right and should be provided equitably as a public service rather than bought and sold as a commodity.

We educate and advocate for a single-payer health insurance system in California and the nation. We believe that our current Medicare program should be improved and expanded to include all persons living in the United States. We acknowledge that a national health insurance system will most likely result from individual states creating their own single-payer models. California is poised to become one of the first to create such a model.

PNHP-CA originated in 1987 under the name California Physicians Alliance (CaPA). CaPA was founded to promote progressive change in health care at the state and local levels. In 1993 CaPA officially became the California chapter of PNHP. In 2010 CaPA changed its name to PNHP California to more clearly reflect our ties to our national organization and its mission.