Details Emerge On Proposed California Single-Payer Healthcare Plan
SACRAMENTO (CBS SF) – A lawmaker has unveiled details on a plan to dramatically change the way Californians receive healthcare with a single-payer system.
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State Senators Ricardo Lara and Toni Atkins introduced Senate Bill 562 or the "Healthy California Act" this week.
According to Lara's office, all 39 million Californians would be covered. The plan would include coverage for medical, emergency, dental, vision, mental health, and nursing home care. Co-pays and insurance deductibles would also be eliminated.
Insurance companies would be barred from offering coverage for services already included in the plan.
The plan would also allow Californians to choose their doctor from a list of providers, and it would cover Californians while traveling.
There were proposals for single-payer systems in 2007 and in 2011. Neither plan won approval from the voters or the legislature.
RoseAnn Demoro from the California Nurses Association said in a statement. "There has been a seismic shift in our political system through grassroots activism; we have an inspired, motivated base that will make its voice heard."
Opponents of the plan raise concerns about the cost. The single payer proposal in 2007 was estimated to have cost $209 billion, which would have meant wage tax hikes for employees and employers.
For this new proposal, the cost or financial plan remains to be seen.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Gov. Jerry Brown expressed skepticism in the state's ability to fund the plan.
