Report on Single-Payer Health Care Leaves “More Questions than Answers”

Four months after disastrous legislation (AB 1400) to create a so-called single-payer healthcare system in California died behind fierce opposition from the Bay Area Council and numerous other groups, a report commissioned by Gov. Newsom to examine the issue still sheds little light on how to pay for it. Or, as Calmatters columnist Dan Walters put it in a column this week, leaves “more questions than answers.” Not surprising. Estimates for dismantling California’s existing health care system and switching to a single-payer system have put the cost at up to $400 billion.

To pay for part of that, a bill last year that the Council worked successfully to kill proposed a $163 billion tax increase on business that would have torpedoed the state’s economy. For now, the Council will be watching closely any new single-payer proposals and continuing our work to leverage market-based reforms to expand health care coverage to more Californians, lower costs and improve health outcomes. To engage in the Council’s healthcare policy work, please contact Research Director Patrick Kallerman.