Source: Politico
It was always a long shot. But single-payer health care has met its Sacramento demise yet again.
Progressive Assemblymember Ash Kalra’s effort to create CalCare, California’s own form of universal health insurance, was so deep in the grave it didn’t even get referred to the Assembly Health Committee for a hearing that would’ve needed to happen today ahead of a key deadline.
Even in this heavily Democratic state, CalCare has never made it through the Capitol — this would have been Kalra’s third run at making the concept a reality. Although Gov. Gavin Newsom campaigned on universal health care, he moved away from the idea once he became governor, instead leaning into the fight to expand Medi-Cal to all income-qualified undocumented immigrants.
Outside analysts projected Kalra’s most recent version of CalCare would cost about $731 billion, about $14 billion more than Californians currently spend on health care.
The California Nurses Association, the bill’s sponsor, condemned the legislation’s downfall and said in a statement “the failure to advance [CalCare] shows a lack of leadership and a capitulation to corporate health care interests.”
Still, CalCare supporters weren’t exactly in fighting mode at the Capitol on Monday. Kalra steered clear of Playbook, flatly shutting down questions about his bill’s fate in favor of a prepared statement.
“I strongly believe that we need to take urgent action in passing single-payer legislation so California can begin a process that will undoubtedly take years,” he said. “We know that every year we delay compounds costs, pain and suffering. And, as we fight back against the unconscionable Trump healthcare cuts, we must also chart a path forward that does not have us return to the status quo.”
Assemblymember Mia Bonta, who chairs the Health Committee and has been a coauthor on previous single-payer bills, said the cost estimate was “a very bitter pill for all of us to swallow.”
But as the state grapples with rising premiums, shrinking insurance coverage and a yawning budget deficit, Bonta said the timing wasn’t right.
“I think it would have been a really tough time to have that conversation,” she said.
One person close to the health committee discussions said the bill never had the juice to get over the significant hurdles ahead.
“If you’re leadership, do you want to have a massive Health hearing, where everyone under the sun comes and tries to get the votes, and then best case scenario, it gets out, you have to do that again on the floor?” said the person, granted anonymity to describe the conversations around the bill. “Most likely scenario is it doesn’t get out of Health, and then you have all these stories about California rejecting single-payer again, and Trump tweets something.”
For his part, Speaker Robert Rivas’ office said the timing was simply not right to get CalCare done this year, with Democrats instead focusing on threats to health care coming from the Trump administration.
“Single payer is a powerful idea, and the Speaker appreciates Assemblymember Kalra’s leadership — but under Trump, it’s impossible,” Rivas spokesperson Nick Miller said in a statement. “Democrats’ focus is simple: protect coverage and stop Trump from ripping it away from Californians.”
