Plan to give health care to every Californian moves forward

SACRAMENTO - California lawmakers pushed forward Wednesday with a proposal that would substantially remake the state’s health care system by replacing insurance companies with government-funded health care for everyone.

The idea known as single-payer health care has long been popular on the left and is getting a new look in California as President Donald Trump looks to replace former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

The proposal, promoted by the state’s powerful nursing union and two Democratic senators, is a long shot. But supporters hope the time is right to persuade lawmakers in California, where Democrats like to push the boundaries of liberal public policy and are eager to stand up to the Republican president.

“It is time to say once and for all that health care is a right, not a privilege for those who can afford it,” said Democratic Sen. Ricardo Lara of Bell Gardens, who wrote the bill along with Democratic Sen. Toni Atkins of San Diego.

Hundreds of nurses clad in red rallied in support of the measure and marched to the state Capitol in Sacramento, packing the hallways before a Senate Health Committee hearing. They were joined by Democratic activists and supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who advocated single-payer health care in his unsuccessful presidential campaign and has introduced federal legislation. Democrats on the panel voted to advance the measure.

The measure would guarantee health coverage with no out-of-pocket costs for all California residents, including people living in the country illegally.

Private insurers would be barred from covering the same services, essentially eliminating them from the marketplace. Instead, a new state agency would set prices and contract with health care providers such as doctors and hospitals and pay the bills for everyone.

However, an essential question is unanswered: Where will the money come from? California health care expenditures last year totaled more than $367 billion, according to the Center for Health Policy Research at UCLA.

The measure envisions using all public money spent on health care - from Medicare, Medicaid, federal public health funds and “Obamacare” subsidies. But it also would require significant tax increases on businesses, residents or both to replace billions of dollars in health care spending by employers and individuals while generating enough money to cover people who are currently uninsured.

The California Nurses Association commissioned a study of the costs and potential funding methods that will be ready before the measure goes before the next committee later this year, spokesman Chuck Idelson said.

Employers, business groups and health plans have mobilized in opposition, warning that the measure would require massive tax increases and force patients into lengthy waits to see a doctor.

They say the state should stay focused on implementing Obama’s health care law.

Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, a co-author of the legislation, said it’s time to begin discussing the merits of a single-payer program as the next step toward a health care system that guarantees health insurance for all state residents.

McGuire called the Affordable Care Act an “important first step” toward that goal, one that gave California the lowest rate of uninsured people in the state’s history. He said the rate of uninsured was a little more than 7 percent, compared to 17 prior to implementation of Obamacare.

“This is a discussion that needs to be had here in California and in America,” McGuire said. “California needs to be on the leading edge of this important conversation.”

McGuire said there’s much to learn from the mistakes and successes of other developed nations that have implemented universal health care systems. He also pointed to the success of Medicare and the public’s general satisfaction with it.

When asked whether there was enough political power in Sacramento to take on the insurance industry, McGuire said the United States is currently spending far too much money for health outcomes that to do not compare favorably with those of other western nations.

Staff Writer Martin Espinoza contributed to this report.