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It's been fifteen years since Gov. Schwarzenegger first vetoed single-payer legislation in California, and about three years since the last major push to implement such a state-level system was shelved. Now does the prospect of a new HHS with California (and single-payer) sympathies and a governor suddenly on the ropes make it more or less likely to advance in California this time?
New Single-Payer Bill Intensifies Newsom’s Political Peril
California could be a good test case if the state really wants to do it. But with a White House that's now set on bolstering the ACA instead of shredding it, perhaps some of the urgency that briefly gave single-payer momentum in California in 2017 will be lost.
New Single-Payer Bill Intensifies Newsom’s Political Peril
SACRAMENTO — A group of Democratic state lawmakers introduced legislation Friday to create a single-payer health care system to cover all Californians, immediately defining the biggest health policy debate of the year and putting enormous political pressure on Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The Democratic governor faces the increasingly likely prospect of a Republican-driven recall election later this year. The single-payer bill adds to his political peril from the left if he doesn’t express support, and from the right if he does.
Nearly 20 other Assembly Democrats signed on to the legislation, which is among the first state-based single-payer proposals to be introduced under the Biden administration. Massachusetts lawmakers this year introduced similar legislation, and other states are considering it.
California’s proposal, if approved, could test the Biden administration’s willingness to grant states freedom to enact sweeping health care reforms such as a single-payer system. Becerra, California’s attorney general, has expressed unwavering support for single-payer and would be positioned to weigh in on the plan should he be confirmed as President Joe Biden’s Health and Human Services secretary. Becerra’s Senate confirmation hearings start Tuesday.
California could be a good test case if the state really wants to do it. But with a White House that's now set on bolstering the ACA instead of shredding it, perhaps some of the urgency that briefly gave single-payer momentum in California in 2017 will be lost.
What if the Road to Single-Payer Led Through the States?
Ro Khanna is about to drop a bill designed to make it easier for states that want to experiment with single-payer to do so. The biggest policy barriers to state-level single-payer have arguably been ERISA preemption (which prevents states from regulating self-insured employer health plans, which...
debatepolitics.com
Becerra Supports ‘Medicare for All,’ and Could Help States Get There
An interesting look at how the new HHS Secretary could help facilitate state-level single-payer experiments if any state(s) wanted to step up and give it a shot. (New York? California?) It's hard to see the idea gaining traction at the national level without at least one state achieving a...
debatepolitics.com