“Rather than propose a comprehensive policy bill developed by a few single payer experts (an essential component of our work but an approach that has not succeeded politically after numerous attempts), SB 770 seeks to engage health justice supporters of all stripes to collaborate on a proposal to be presented to the California Legislature under a definite timeline.”
By Michael Lighty
Summary
A proposed law in the California Senate would instruct state officials to engage with the federal government on approvals and coordination for a state single payer bill. This is an important complement to a single payer bill in the Assembly.
Excerpts from
New Bill Would Pressure Newsom to Speed Up Work
on Single-Payer Health Care
San Francisco Chronicle
March 21, 2023
By Sophia Bollag
‘Gov. Gavin Newsom would face new deadlines on his administration’s work to revamp the state’s health care system under a bill unveiled Tuesday in the state Legislature…
“A bill Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, announced Tuesday would impose deadlines on the administration and give the Legislature a role in the process of securing a waiver…
“Wiener’s bill, SB770, would require Newsom’s health secretary to brief the Legislature on the status of its work to secure a federal waiver every few months, and to produce a formal report on the administration’s progress and plans by June 2024. It would also give legislative leaders power to appoint people to a group advising the administration’s work.”
Commentary
With the introduction last week of California Senate Bill 770, advocates for health justice opened a new path to achieve guaranteed healthcare for all based on single payer financing.
Rather than propose a comprehensive policy bill developed by a few single payer experts (an essential component of our work but an approach that has not succeeded politically after numerous attempts), SB 770 seeks to engage health justice supporters of all stripes to collaborate on a proposal to be presented to the California Legislature under a definite timeline.
SB 770 is part of the newly launched Healthy California for All Now campaign. Our goal is to guarantee equitable healthcare to all California residents that provides better care at less cost for families, through public financing.
The campaign builds on the positive momentum created by the Healthy California for All Commission, which concluded that single payer (what they call “unified financing”) could save at least 4,000 lives annually and $158 billion in 2031. The Commission gave official approval for a program which it summarized as:
- All Californians will be entitled to receive a standard package of health care services;
- This package could include Long Term Care Support and Services, which would relieve huge and growing burdens that are falling on millions of families;
- Entitlement will not vary by age, employment status, disability status, income, immigration status, or other characteristics; and
- Distinctions among Medicare, Medi-Cal, employer-sponsored insurance, and individual market coverage will be eliminated within the system of unified financing.
Those findings are incorporated into SB 770 as the first step in a process which directs the Secretary of the California Health and Human Services (HHS) Agency to:
- Pursue waiver discussions with the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to facilitate the creation of a unified healthcare financing system;
- Establish a Waiver Development Workgroup of diverse healthcare system stakeholders appointed by the Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, and President Pro Tempore of the Senate;
- Provide quarterly reports to the chairs of the Assembly and Senate Health Committees on the status and outcomes of waiver discussions with the federal government and on workgroup progress;
- Submit a complete set of recommendations regarding the elements to be included in a formal waiver application, as specified, by no later than June 1, 2024
Single payer advocates are building an outreach and public education campaign to bring into legislative discussions health justice advocates from varied contexts: labor, expanding coverage for undocumented residents, reforming Medi-Cal, and rate-setting for health systems. This marks a critical broadening of our advocacy base. It will foster decisions on unsettled key policy and financing issues from the Healthy California for All Commission that the Legislature will support.
SB 770 and CalCare (AB 1690), the comprehensive single payer bill sponsored by the California Nurses Association, are on complementary tracks. The first legislative goal would be passing the collaborative engagement and advisory process in SB 770, to be followed by consideration of a comprehensive single-payer program, including the proposals in CalCare, which is slated to be considered in 2024.
It’s vital that advocates support the process. We must repeatedly highlight the broad and deep political support for single payer, and contribute to the resolution of key political, legal, and technical issues to support state single payer. SB 770 provides an essential opportunity and a path to guaranteed healthcare.
We have an historic opportunity to achieve political success for single payer – let’s seize the moment!
*****
Mr. Lighty is President, Healthy California Now.
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Scott Wiener.jpg, courtesy of Scott Wiener, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
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