Five years ago, gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom promised to transform California’s health care into a single-payer system similar to Canada and Western Europe.
Newsom said he supported the single-payer bill that passed the state Senate and said there was “no reason to wait.”
“I’m tired of politicians supporting a single payer but saying it’s too early, too expensive, or someone else’s problem,” Newsom said.
His position helped solidify Newsome’s support among progressive supporters of the bill as he faced off against fellow Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa.
The bill stalled in Congress, and after winning the election, Mr. Newsom began to shy away from the single-payer concept, citing difficult barriers. One is to persuade the federal government to donate to California more than $200 billion spent on health care for Californians, about half of the state’s total medical costs.
Mr. Newsom came close last year to promoting universal health care, meaning that nearly 40 million Californians all have some form of insurance.
A report from the California Institute of Public Policy, citing Census data, said at the time, “Approximately 3 million Californians reported being uninsured in the spring of 2022.” “Nearly 7 in 10 (68%) are Latinos, about 38% are non-citizens, and 80% are low or middle income (below 400% of the federal poverty line).”
Budget 2022-23 will close some of the gaps by extending Medi-Cal coverage to illegal immigrants who are not covered by Federal-assisted insurance, leveraging an estimated budget surplus of nearly $100 billion. was taken.
“No later than January 1, 2024, Medi-Cal will be available to all eligible Californians,” declared the 2022-23 Final Budget.
The expansion of Medi-Cal (California’s version of the federal Medicaid program) was facilitated by federal authorities relaxing eligibility requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the number of registered users exceeded 15 million, reaching nearly 40% of the state’s population.
Under his “California Blueprint,” universal health care remains Mr. Newsom’s stated goal. But coverage appears to be shrinking at this point, and with the state facing chronic budget deficits, reaching coverage before Newsom’s governorship ends is not out of the question. Even so, it will be difficult.
The federal government’s “continuous registration” pandemic policy has expired, and hundreds of thousands of Californians who benefited from it will have to recertify their eligibility.
Newsom’s revised 2023-24 budget, released last month, projected a loss of more than a million medical subscribers, still more than a third of the state’s population, but Newsom said the It is said that it will move away from universal health insurance, which it has sought as a single payer. Alternative.
Understandably, single-payer advocates are frustrated by Newsom’s failure to deliver on his 2018 promises. They gave him some enthusiasm when he attended last month’s state Democratic convention.
Covering all Californians would be expensive. Applying for Medi-Cal costs federal and state governments about $10,000 per registrant. No one knows exactly how many Californians are still uninsured today, but 2 million is a better number than any other, and we’re pushing even more Californians to Medi- Including it in Cal could cost an additional $20 billion annually.
Single-payer proponents, meanwhile, haven’t given up. Last week, the California Senate passed Senate Bill 770, aimed at implementing the Single Payer Compensation Plan developed by Newsom’s 2019 Health California for All Commission.
The bill directs state officials to begin discussions with federal officials about California’s participation in the Single Payer Plan.
San Francisco Democratic Senator Scott Weiner, who co-authored the bill, said, “It’s time to make real progress in addressing the inequities and injustices of our fragmented healthcare system.”
As Newsom finally learned, “easier said than done.”
Dan Walters has been a journalist for nearly 60 years, all but a few of them in California newspapers. His commentary is provided through CalMatters.org, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how the California State Capitol works and why it matters. For more information, visit calmateters.org/commentary.
