With single-payer health care legislation failing to garner enough support to be voted on last week, it’s raising questions about how the measure – which had Democratic support but industry opposition – may factor in this year’s elections.
The Assembly declining to take up the measure, AB 1400, is a win for patients and taxpayers in California, Ned Wigglesworth, spokesperson for Protect California Health Care, a coalition of doctors, nurses, hospitals, small businesses, and other stakeholders opposed to the single-payer measure, told the Northern California Record.
“We saw the Assembly’s action on this bill essentially as a vote to protect our constituents from higher taxes and against chaos in our health care system,” Wigglesworth said, adding there are two key problems with the single-payer proposal.
“AB 1400 would have dismantled our current health care system, including eliminating Medicare for seniors, eliminating private coverage for everyone and no guarantee the patient could keep their doctor or their benefits,” Wigglesworth said. “On the financial side, it would have increased taxes at least $160 billion dollars a year – taxes that would have hit Californians’ paychecks, their income, and increased the cost of nearly every good and service offered in the state, all at a time when residents are already struggling with the pandemic and the high cost of living in California.
“They don’t need disruptive health care and higher taxes.”
A recent UCLA health policy research brief found that 94 percent of Californians have some form of health coverage as of 2021.
Wigglesworth noted that California, with its recent 2022-23 budget proposal can move closer to getting it to 100 percent coverage.
“There's still work to be done there, but it's better to build on our current system to achieve it, to work on affordability, than it is to dismantle the entire health care system and say state government is going to be able to do it cheaper and better,” Wigglesworth said.
As proposed in AB 1400, authored by Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, the state-run single-payer system was called CalCare.
Kalra told FOX 40 that had the measure been voted on the by Jan. 31 deadline, it may have lost by a 2-1 margin, and that he will work with colleagues to bring forth the legislation again.
“Although the bill did not pass the Assembly by today’s deadline, this is only a pause for the single-payer movement; our coalition, including the mighty California Nurses Association, will continue the fight for accessible, affordable, and equitable healthcare for all Californians,” Kalra said in a news release.
Kalra later met with Progressive Caucus members on Zoom to explain the outcome.
“We were prepared for a vote, and to ensure that we lifted up those Assembly members that stood with the people of California, and to bring some scrutiny on those Assembly members that voted against the Labor Federation, against the party, and against the people,” Amar Shergill, executive board member of the California Democratic Party and chair of the Progressive Caucus, told the Record.
Rusty Hicks, chair of the California Democratic Party, did not respond to the Record’s request for comment.
“The Progressive Caucus is encouraging delegates to ensure that those that refused to support the bill are not endorsed by the party,” Shergill said.
The Caucus statement posted on Facebook explained it “strongly disagrees” with the decision not to hold a vote on AB 1400.
“I think we're going to see, over the next month or two, how local delegates react to Assembly members that failed on this bill,” Shergill said. “And we are already seeing some endorsements being blocked, and I’m sure we’re going to see more.”
Shergill posted on Twitter Friday, “Good morning to anti-CalCare Assemblymembers that had their Party endorsements pulled. Step one complete. Much more to come.”