As President Trump talks of revealing a replacement for Obamacare in March, the state of California is talking about going its own way and instituting a single-payer health care system for state residents.
Such a system would allow the state to designate an agency to serve as an insurer; all residents would pay into that agency which would, in turn, pay doctors and hospitals when residents needed medical care.
According to the Los Angeles Times, single-payer health care has long been a goal of progressives in California. Bills to establish it were passed in 2006 and 2008 but were vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now, however, advocates say the combination of a pending Obamacare repeal and the Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) push for such a single-payer system during the presidential election may have set the stage for securing the one-size-fits-all system.
On Friday, State Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) introduced legislation that would institute a single-payer system in California. The system would be similar to the health care system in Canada. But the single-payer system would cost California taxpayers an estimated $40 billion during the first year alone, and no one has been able to explain how that money would be raised.
Economic Institute at the Bay Area Council president Micah Weinberg said, “Where are they going to come up with the $40 billion?” Weinberg suggested the cost of single-payer shows the move is “just not feasible to do as a state.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.