The California Senate passed a bill last week that would make this the only state to provide health care to all residents through what’s called the single-payer system.
Is “single payer” the best health insurance solution?
That’s our Question of the Week for readers.
Would the plan outlined in Senate Bill 562, introduced by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, and Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, be better for Californians than the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), than congressional Republicans’ proposal to replace it, and than systems with less government involvement?
Is enough known to allow you to give thumbs up or down to the plan, which would need a funding scheme to be developed by the Assembly before a vote could be taken in that house?
Do the potential benefits touted by the proponents outweigh the likely costs highlighted by opponents?
Under a single-payer system, insurance companies would be replaced by government-funded health care, with doctors and hospitals paid by the state.
The bill’s Democratic authors say this simplified system would insure more people, would eliminate out-of-pocket expenses for patients, and would reduce costs by boosting the government’s power to bargain for lower rates with drug and medical-care providers.
But critics say the plan would require enormous tax increases and would be a government-run mess.
Analysts put the price tag at $400 billion a year. That’s more than twice the total state budget. While the cost could be paid partly from existing Medicaid and Medi-Cal funds, it appears at least $100 billion in new taxes would be needed.
Even if a single-payer plan is approved by the Assembly and Gov. Jerry Brown, it couldn’t be enacted unless voters approved a change in the state spending cap.
If you could vote on “single payer,” would you say yes or no?
Email your thoughts to letters@ocregister.com. Please include your full name and city or community of residence. Provide a daytime phone number. Or, if you prefer, share your views in the comments section that accompanies this article online.
We’ll publish as many responses as possible.