About the Initiative

What is Prop 67?

Proposition 67—the Emergency Medical Care Initiative—will ensure that emergency medical care is available when you and your family need it most. It will keep local hospital emergency rooms and trauma centers open in communities throughout California. It provides equipment and training to firefighters and paramedics who respond first to emergencies. It supports local health clinics so our emergency rooms and trauma centers are reserved for true emergencies. It will upgrade our 9-1-1 emergency telephone system.

Why do we need Prop 67?

California’s emergency and trauma system is overwhelmed, under-funded and lacks the resources needed to provide quality lifesaving care that every patient deserves. In the last decade over 60 hospital emergency rooms and trauma centers have closed. Experts predict that many more will close. If these facilities close children, families and seniors will lose access to doctors, nurses, critical medical equipment, medicines and essential emergency care. Fewer hospitals and emergency rooms mean longer ambulance rides for victims of heart attacks, strokes, car accidents and other medical emergencies. For many emergency patients, rapid-response treatment is the difference between life and death.

How does this crisis affect me and my family?

Emergency rooms throughout California are severely over-crowded. Patients face long lines and wait times. When emergency rooms reach full capacity, ambulances are often diverted to other hospitals. Some paramedics must try 3 or 4 hospitals before finding an emergency room or trauma center that can accept their patient.

How will Prop 67 improve emergency care in my community?

The funds raised by Prop 67 go directly to local hospitals, emergency rooms and trauma centers to ensure you, your family and your neighbors have access to rapid-response care, close to home. Prop 67 will make sure your local hospital emergency room and trauma center are staffed with highly skilled doctors, nurses and healthcare providers that have access to state-of-the-art medical equipment. Prop 67 provides funds to equip and train firefighters and paramedics so that the first ones on the scene of an accident, disaster or medical emergency are prepared to provide life-saving treatment.

Will Prop 67 upgrade our 9-1-1 system?

Yes. Prop 67 will provide additional equipment to 9-1-1 call centers so they can provide better service. For example, our existing 9-1-1 system cannot locate emergency calls from cellphone users. We need to upgrade our 9-1-1 system to pinpoint the location of 9-1-1 cell phone callers during an emergency.

How much will this initiative cost me?

The initiative funds emergency medical care with a 3% surcharge on telephone usage. This is a modest increase to the 9-1-1 telephone surcharge that customers currently pay. Residential telephone customers will pay a maximum of 50 cents per month. The average cell phone user will only pay about 90 cents per month. All out-of-state calls are exempt from the surcharge. Senior citizens and others on basic lifeline phone rates are 100% exempt from the cost.

How can I be sure the money will be spent properly?

The money from Prop 67 can ONLY be used to preserve emergency medical care and none of the money can be taken away by the legislature to be used for other purposes. Every dollar will be audited annually and must be spent to keep local hospital emergency rooms and trauma centers open and accessible for emergency patients.

Who supports Prop 67—the Emergency Medical Care Initiative?

Doctors, nurses, paramedics, and firefighters collected over 900,000 signed petitions from California voters to put Prop 67 on the ballot. Now thousands of these emergency healthcare providers in communities around the state are working hard to pass Prop 67.

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Coalition to Preserve Emergency Care, sponsored by firefighters, paramedics, doctors, nurses and healthcare providers—Yes on 67
Major funding provided by the California Healthcare Committee on Issues, Sponsored by the California Healthcare Association, Cal/ACEP Initiative Fund, California, Medical Association Physician’s Issues Committee, and the California Primary Care Association • 455 Capitol Mall, Suite 801, Sacramento, CA 95814
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