On this edition of Your Call, we’re discussing AB 1400, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act, which would provide comprehensive, universal single-payer health care coverage to all Californians under a system called CalCare.
CalCare supporters say benefits would include include all primary and preventive care, hospital and outpatient services, prescription drugs, dental, vision, audiology, reproductive health services, maternity and newborn care, long-term services and supports, prescription drugs, mental health and substance abuse treatment, laboratory and diagnostic services, ambulatory services, and more.
The bill, which recently passed the Assembly’s Health Committee on a party-line 11 to 3 vote, is expected to head to the Assembly floor next week. Because it was introduced last year, it must pass by January 31.
Nearly 3.2 million Californians will remain uninsured this year, or about 9.5 percent of the population age 0-64, according to the UC Berkeley Labor Center. Even for the insured, health care premiums and basic costs are incredibly high. Medical debt is the largest single cause of bankruptcy in the US, according to the National Consumer Law Center. CalCare would transform this broken system. What questions do you have about how it will work?
Guests:
Ash Kalra, California State Assemblymember representing the City of San Jose who introduced AB 1400, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act
Dr. Hank Abrons MD, MPH, retired physician specializing in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, board member of Physicians for a National Health Program and former president of its California chapter
Deborah Burger RN, registered nurse, president of National Nurses United, member and former president of the California Nurses Association, which is a sponsor of AB 1400
Web Resources:
CapRadio: Single-payer health care is back on the table at the California Capitol
Forbes: California Lawmaker Introduces Plan To Pay For State Universal Healthcare System
Pasadena Now: CalCare Would Save California School & Community College Districts Millions of Dollars
National Consumer Law Center: The problem of Medical Debt
UC Berkeley Labor Center: Undocumented Californians Projected to Remain the Largest Group of Uninsured in the State in 2022
Commonwealth Fund: U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, 2019: Higher Spending, Worse Outcomes?
Politico: CalCare begins its long crawl to passage
University of Massachusetts Amherst: Economic Analysis of the Healthy California Single-Payer Health Care Proposal
