California Has Plan for Dramatic Health Care Change

Californians could see a major overhaul in health care policy as the state looks to advance a new bill promising universal coverage.

The state has previously introduced laws that would bring universal health care to residents, but so far, none have been successful.

The new bill, AB 2200, calls for a single-payer system called CalCare, and it would give Californians benefits no matter their financial or work background.

“The bill, among other things, would provide that CalCare cover a wide range of medical benefits and other services and would incorporate the health care benefits and standards of other existing federal and state provisions, including the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medi-Cal, ancillary health care or social services covered by regional centers for persons with developmental disabilities, Knox-Keene, and the federal Medicare,” the bill reads.

Similar to bills before it, the law could face obstacles due to its cost. It’s likely to cost the state somewhere between $494 billion and $522 billion, and that could lessen its support in making it past legislative debate.

However, some believe the state is more primed to accept the bill, and its price tag, as there are more lawmakers in favor of single-payer systems in office than in years past.

“I think coming out of the pandemic, we’re seeing the desire for people to have health care more. I think it’s changed a lot of minds and more and more people are committed to making sure people don’t have to suffer or die because they pay to go to the doctor,” Assemblymember Liz Ortega told Politico.

While this type of healthcare system is a staple of many European countries, no other U.S. state has approved anything similar. If the bill does indeed make its way through the state legislature, it would then need to be signed by Governor Gavin Newsom.

“The bill has the obvious issue of financial feasibility but additionally the medical providers will need to accept to receive patients under the universal healthcare option,” Chris Fong, a Medicare expert and the CEO of Smile Insurance Group, told Newsweek. “If passed this will provide healthcare to many Californians who either choose to not have health insurance due to the high premium costs or that they don’t know they could qualify for Medi-Cal or a low premium Covered California policy.”

Kaivan Shroff, a political strategist and public interest attorney, agreed that the bill will likely face difficulty in getting off the Senate floor.

“The bill has failed to pass in the past and I expect it might face a similar fate this go around despite some progressive turnover in the state legislature since. The state proposed this law because everyone deserves access to healthcare,” Shroff told Newsweek. “Still, while the recent pandemic has made the necessity of access to care more apparent than ever, there are practical disagreements about the costs and efficiencies that could sink the bill as written.”

California also approved a new rule this week that would limit yearly price increases to just 3 percent for doctors and health insurance companies beginning in 2029.

This rule hopes to curb costs for patients as healthcare spending in the United States has reached record highs. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, healthcare spending was more than double in 2022 than two decades ago, reaching a whopping $4.5 trillion.

“Making quality health care affordable is a top priority for our administration,” Newsom said in a statement. “This action is a crucial first step forward in our efforts to reign in outrageous heath care costs and make health care more affordable.”