California Democrats Try to Pass Single-Payer Health Care

California Democrats Try to Pass Single-Payer Health Care in Politics and Legislation

In the wake of Senator-elect Scott Brown and the stand still on the health care debate in Washington, California Democrats have decided to take matters into their own hands.

Democrats have again proposed to implement a single-payer health care system and get rid of the California health insurance industry, which the California Senate will vote for a single-payer system next week. The cost of creating this universal health care system would cost around $210 billion in just one year, which would double California’s state budget according to The New York Times.

California Republicans are shocked that the Democrats are still proposing this bill after what they perceive to be a referendum on health care in Massachusetts and with California’s surmountable debt.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has already vetoed a single-payer bill twice and has unsuccessfully tried passing his own health care bill. So it’s not like the political environment in California is ripe for major health care change.

Democrats certainly have plenty of hurdles ahead if they want to pass this unrealistic bill. For one, they can’t answer the question of how single-payer health care would be financed. The flimsy California Democrats have come up with so far is to tax individuals and employees.

With the governor hard-nosed on opposition to this bill and without the votes to overturn a veto, this bill has absolutely no chance.  

Comments[0]