"I've been a diabetic for 30 years," he said, "and I've always had trouble getting insurance because I have a preexisting condition."

His frustration with finding health care fueled his decision to join Health Care for All—California (HCA—C) in 1994. During his time with the nonprofit grass-roots organization he has helped advocate for three Senate bills that call for funding studies of various statewide health-care options.

The organization has about 24 chapters throughout the state, with approximately 650 members. Hunt is now the organization's state treasurer.

"Health care is something I've been very concerned about for close to 30 years," he said.

One option California is exploring is the expansion of public programs—such as health and nutrition awareness campaigns—and tax credits for health benefits paid for by individuals and employers. But Hunt favors the single-payer model.

"Essentially, it's a central fund where all the providers go to be reimbursed after someone gets treated. It would operate like MediCare," he said.

"We're trying to do it on a state level, but other countries have done it on a local basis before they took it nationwide," Hunt said.

But convincing voters that a single-payer model of health care is viable is difficult. A single-payer system was proposed in 1994 as Proposition 186, which voters did not pass.

However, during the past nine years, health-care activists as well as elected officials—in particular Sen. Sheila Kuehl, who represents the state's 23rd District—have worked to draft and pass Senate bills that call for implementation of or consideration of the single-payer model.

In 1999, Hunt and HCA—C helped draft Senate Bill 480, which endorsed funding for an earlier bill, SB 2123, first written to propose studying a single-payer system but later revised to call for studying various health-care models, including a single-payer model.

The state Legislature passed Senate Bill 480, and Gov. Grey Davis reluctantly signed it into law.

"We were instrumental in getting Gov. Davis, who didn't support it, to appropriate $200,000 for the study. The appropriation originally was for $600,000, but he cut it down to $200,000."

The endorsement campaign also acquired $1.2 million from the federal government.

The study was completed in May 2002, and Hunt says the results suggest plenty of public support for health-care reform that may include a single-payer model.

Proponents of Keuhl's single-payer model say its advantages include improved coverage for all Californians in comparison to private insurance plans. Also the single-payer model should save the state $21.4 billion in administrative costs and residents will never lose coverage, according to the model's proponents.

The Lewin Group, a Virginia-based consulting company, was hired to create some computer models that looked at the various health-care proposals to determine which would be the most cost-effective and feasible to implement in California. The data suggested that of the nine options presented, the single-payer model would be the cheapest.

The study took five months to complete, Hunt said. The consulting firm took statistics already compiled by the health-care industry and modeled the results based on the parameters of covering more people, Hunt said.

"The essence of the problem is that the insurance companies are spending 25 to 35 percent of their premium funds on non-health-care issues," Hunt said. "Yet public sentiment it still 'iffy'. So what we're doing is an education campaign. Everyone believes the only solutions to problems are market based."

"The single-payer solution is not market-based," Hunt said, explaining that health care should be considered a public service, such as police and fire department services.

"And what is more important to a person than his health?" Hunt asks. "If we were to use the market-based solution, how many people could pay for the police?"

Hunt may have an easier time crunching the numbers and understanding the dollar value of a single-payer plan better than most citizens because he experienced this type of system firsthand while living in Canada and abroad.

His family moved from Saskatchewan to North Carolina when he was 7 years old. He attended the University of North Carolina and majored in accounting. After graduation he got a job with Price Waterhouse in Ohio, which transferred him to California a few years later. He's lived in Willow Glen for 22 years but lived in Europe for six years prior. His wife, Emilie, who is from Germany, says that the United States' health-care system is "rather silly."

Perhaps as soon as 2006 Californians may have a universal health-care system similar to the single-payer plan his home province of Saskatchewan, Canada adopted in 1957.

For more information on Health Care for All—California, write 563 Delcliff Circle, Sacramento, 95822, call 888.442.4255 or visit www.healthcareforall.org.