The Democrat-dominated California state legislature has once again rejected a proposal to create a single-payer health care system — socialized medicine, or so-called “Medicare for All” — due to the high cost amid budget deficits.
The idea of a government-run, publicly-funded health care system has tempted left-wing Democrats for decades. In 2016 and 2020, it was the centerpiece of the presidential campaigns of socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). And elements of that socialist ideal have, in fact, become part of the American health care system under Obamacare.
The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday:
The latest attempt to bring a single-payer healthcare system to California failed in the state Legislature on Thursday, undercut by its steep price tag as lawmakers struggle with a mounting budget shortfall.
Assembly Bill 2200, named Guaranteed Health Care for All — or CalCare — hoped to set up a universal single-payer healthcare system for all residents of California, but it died on Thursday in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San José) said he was “deeply disappointed” that it died so early on.
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CalCare was projected to annually cost the state $392 billion. Meanwhile, California is grappling with a $45-billion deficit.
Two years ago, flush with cash from federal coronavirus relief spending, and with tax revenues from a Wall Street boom, California had a $100 billion budget surplus, fueling utopian dreams.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), once a fan of “Medicare for All,” says that climate change is partly to blame for the rapid budget crash, because a series of winter storms last year caused delays in tax filings, while the state continued to spend money that it simply did not have.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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