California lawmakers try another 'single-payer' health care bill

[FreakinDJ]

Jon Ortiz | The Sacramento Bee

California's "Medicare for all" bill goes before a key Senate committee today, the latest chapter in a long-running battle between universal health insurance supporters and business.

Senate Bill 810, introduced by San Francisco Democrat Sen. Mark Leno, would establish a California Healthcare Agency to run a single-payer health care system that would pool employer and employee payments. It would administer the money and negotiate rates with doctors, hospitals and other medical providers.

As a mammoth player in the industry, the thinking goes, a state-operated system would drive down medical costs and insurance premiums while improving access to care.

The bill doesn't establish any new taxes or fees, preferring to leave that for future legislation.



Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/01/17/136083/california-lawmakers-try-another.html#storylink=cpy

[eridani]

1. It isn't a matter of "preferring"

CA requires that enabling legislation go first. Unfortunately the actual finance bill requires 2/3.

[lunatica]

2. If they advertised it with a comparison on what health costs are without it

I don't see any problem with the financial issue. Just tell how much it costs the taxpayers in California for emergency room visits by people who are uninsured, or about what it costs to fight drug addiction, or even how much it costs for people to abstain from going to get health care until they're too sick not to go, and the cost effectiveness of single payer will be self-evident.

But it'll probably be the insurance companies who do all the comparisons. Fake ones dripping with racist hatred of course.

[FreakinDJ]

3. 20% of California Healthcare cost are for Un-reimbusersed Medical Cost

ie: Emergency Room visits

[demosincebirth]

4. The last one was steam-rolled by the Insurnance Industry. It's going to be just like the

proposition, a few years ago, that would tax the oil companies in California. The Oil companies scared the shit out of the voters about how the price of gasoline was going to go sky high. It didn't pass, but yet the price of a gallon of gas is the highest in the nation. What fools we are.

[pinto]

5. Leno may be looking at the possibility of a 2/3 Dem majority after elections...

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

6. But he needs more than that

he needs a 2/3 majority of Dems who are not bought off by the insurance companies. A much steeper hill to climb.

The insurance companies will be flooding the legislators with money offers, job offers, anything for a "no" vote.

[pinto]

8. And...there's that.

[jpak]

7. Good - and VT makes 2

yup

[divide_and_rule]

9. state govts are far more democratic than the fed govt. States rights is a progessive issue

....or so you would you think