Skip to main content

Affordable in home care | starts at $28 per hr

408-854-1883 starts at $30 per hr home care

$400 billion price tag for California single-payer bill

By Associated Press

A California bill that would eliminate health insurance companies and provide government-funded health coverage for everyone in the state would cost $400 billion and require significant tax increases, legislative analysts said Monday.

Much of the cost would be offset by existing state, federal and private spending on health coverage, the analysis found, but total healthcare costs would increase by an estimated $50 billion to $100 billion a year.

That’s a massive sum in a state where the entire general fund budget is $125 billion.

State Sen. Ricardo Lara, a Democrat, said he’ll propose a mechanism for raising the necessary tax revenue soon. The California Nurses Association, which is the driving force behind the bill, has commissioned a study to look at options.

The concept known as single-payer has energized liberals who are pushing Democratic lawmakers to approve the measure. The nursing union and other backers say eliminating insurance company profits and administrative costs would allow for more spending on patient care.

Employers, business groups and health plans warned that the tax increases would crush businesses and make it harder for them to expand their workforce in California.

“The impact on employers I think is going to be absolutely astounding,”Republican state Sen. Jim Nielsen said in a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the bill Monday. “How can you possibly say this is going to be fiscally prudent for the state of California, not a burden for the state?”

SB562 would guarantee health coverage with no out-of-pocket costs for all California residents, including people living in the country illegally. The state would contract with hospitals, doctors and other healthcare providers and pay the bills for all residents similar to the way the federal government covers seniors through Medicare.

The measure envisions using all public money spent on healthcare — from Medicare, Medicaid, federal public health funds and “Obamacare” subsidies. That’s enough to cover about half of the $400 billion cost, according to the legislative analysis.

The rest would come from higher taxes on businesses, residents or both. It would take a 15% payroll tax to raise enough money, the analysis said.

Two-thirds of the Assembly and Senate must approve the tax increases required to fund it. If it were to clear the Legislature and be signed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who has expressed skepticism, it would need cooperation from President Donald Trump’s administration to waive rules about federal Medicare and Medicaid dollars.

Published by connie dello buono

Connie Dello Buono is based in Sunnyvale California. Her first ebook is about women's health, Birthing Ways Healing Ways and her recent one is about cancer prevention, Curated Healing Ways. She had helped women have holistic childbirth as childbirth educator, founded Motherhealth, to serve seniors in the bay area with holistic caregivers and blogs at www.clubalthea.com with more than 10,000 health and finance related posts. Connie trains her own caregivers, which are the favorites of most bay area seniors who are home bound and alone. She is active in the rehab and nursing facilities, volunteering on music and movement for seniors. She is a member of Lion's club and offered scholarships to students in the Philippines. She is active at churchinsunnyvale.us and has Fridays Bible home study in Sunnyvale using the recovery version of the Bible , free at biblesforamerica.us She loves dancing and teaching and her courses can be found at https://teachclub.com/@thriveafter60 She is California Life Insurance licensed providing life insurance for older adults with health issues and helping women retire safely with income for life. at menloassetca.com , she helps with 401k rollover. 3 Benefit plans - Mortgage protection using term life insurance to pay for mortgage balance in event of death - Final Expense plan using Single Issue Whole Life Insurance, with cash back, disability benefit and guaranteed in the presence of health issues - Fixed Index Annuity retirement plan for safe, accessibility, less fees, less taxes, avoids probate as it goes directly to beneficiaries, rate of return with no downside market participation. She brings compassion and understanding to the needs of her clients, bringing holistic approach in health and life insurance. Her goal is to free families from worries especially during covid with caregivers and life insurance in the presence of health issues, especially for women. She can be reached at 408-854-1883 , motherhealth@gmail.com

2 thoughts on “$400 billion price tag for California single-payer bill”

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from Affordable in home care | starts at $28 per hr

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading