The latest on single-payer healthcare.
California candidate Gavin Newsom doubled down on claims he made earlier this year that he’d turn California into a single-payer healthcare state, telling the media that he plans on expanding Medicare to cover every Californian, even illegal immigrants. Also, he could prevail upon legislators to institute a state mandate for health insurance and provide state subsidies to help cover the cost.
Newsom has at times attempted to dampen expectations, suggesting in July to the San Francisco Chronicle that the single-payer effort could take years. In part, he was acknowledging a practical hurdle: The federal government needs to approve the move if federal dollars are to be used, and the Trump administration is absolutely opposed.
It may be more of a challenge than he thinks: doctors and California’s healthcare administrators are against the prospect of a fully single-payer system, largely because it will tank their salaries, and they’re planning on opposing any legislation designed to make big changes.
On his campaign website, however, Newsom has publicly called for single-payer coverage in California. Last year, he endorsed the amended Healthy California Act, SB 562, which called for covering every Californian, including undocumented immigrants, under one public program.
The bill stalled, in part because it was projected to cost $400 billion a year, nearly three times the general fund expenditures for 2018-19. But the California Nurses Association, which has endorsed Newsom, plans to sponsor a new bill in the coming legislative session. Newsom’s supporters say he is committed to the effort — simply because he believes it is the right thing to do.
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