Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Saturday that allows California to pursue a single-payer healthcare system that progressive campaigners have desired for years.
On June 15, 2021, campaigners for a single-payer healthcare system held a rally in front of the California State Capitol to protest the recall. (Source: Angela Hart/California Healthline/KQED)
Single Payer Healthcare to be Funded by the State
The measure might help California gain a waiver to use federal Medicaid and Medicare funding for a single-payer system that would cover all Californians and be funded completely by state and federal dollars. Senate Bill 770 requires California’s health secretary to propose the federal waiver by June 1, 2024Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, who authored the measure, said that with this signature, California takes a historic step toward universal healthcare. The state will now address the knotty issue of how to get federal funding for a single-payer healthcare system.
Californians have tried to revamp the healthcare system 10 times in decades. However, high prices, legal and logistical impediments, and healthcare sector disagreements have thwarted major overhauls. Wiener’s legislation will start tackling one element of a hard puzzle rather than overhauling the healthcare system. Single-payer supporters criticize the current healthcare system, which forces patients to pay exorbitant co-pays and fear medical debt.
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Eliminate Private Health Insurance
Many healthcare reform supporters supported the plan, but both parties opposed it. Left critics argued it doesn’t go far enough toward single-payer healthcare in California, while right critics said it’s the end objective of eliminating private health insurance and raising taxes. The California Nurses Assn., which has long supported single-payer healthcare, rejected the bill, arguing that the California Health and Human Services Agency has already done the work. Lead regulatory policy specialist Carmen Comsti of the nurses’ union called the bill an “unnecessary” waste of public resources.
Michael Lighty, head of Healthy California Now, Wiener’s bill’s sponsor, disputed that the bill guarantees a universal system, which may be single-payer. They made it clear that there is no set course of events, Lighty continued. Cindy Young, a California Alliance for Retired Americans board member who supports Wiener’s measure, said time is of the essence for California’s aging population. According to Young, 68 years old, there are certain goods that seniors cannot obtain or that cost so much of our pension funds. “Long-term care is essential. What if we can’t care for ourselves? Nurses’ union wants lawmakers to examine a more ambitious single-payer bill next year.
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