It’s time to fight media bias with truth
As soon as it was announced that Assemblyman Ash Kalra, author of California’s Guaranteed Health Care for All Act, had introduced ACA 11, a single-payer financing proposal, negative headlines were splashed all over the corporate media.
We refuse to spread dishonest headlines by sharing them here. Fear-mongering is how the corporate healthcare industry has kept us from getting the guaranteed, comprehensive healthcare system we want and need!
Instead, we are sharing three truths (and lies) about Cal-Care, AB 1400 and ACA 11 to share with people you know, and especially with your state legislators!
Truth #1
Single-payer will cost less – much less –
than we’re paying now
It’s a lie that single-payer will cost us more. No system on Earth costs more than our multi-payer system.
Moreover, a recent analysis by the UC Berkeley Labor Center (see slide 9) showed that a single payer system would save Californians $50-$80 billion per year, while including coverage for vision, dental, hearing and long-term care!
Truth #2
Taxes for higher-earners may go up but no one will have to pay premiums, deductibles, co-pays or coinsurance anymore.
It’s a lie that taxes will go up more than we are currently paying for health insurance. Paying through taxes means that everybody pays, depending on their income. And that is more fair than charging everyone who is a certain age, living in a certain territory, the same premium regardless of how much they earn.
As it’s currently designed, ACA 11 spreads the (lower) costs of the single-payer system between government, businesses and employees. People who earn more will pay more. Small businesses are protected from higher costs.
Here’s a simplified excerpt from the text of the bill. Check out Section 1 for yourself.
Businesses – Businesses would pay 2.3% of their gross receipts but the first $2 million in annual gross receipts are EXEMPT.
Employers with 50 or more employees would pay 1.25% of total payroll.
Employees – Employees would have a 1% payroll deduction for health care. But the first $49,900 of payroll is EXEMPT.
Personal Income Tax – This tax would be sliding-scale, based on income. But the first $149,509 is EXEMPT. The more you earn over $149,509, the more you pay.
Truth #3
Most Californians want universal,
single-payer healthcare!
It’s a lie that most Californians want to keep their job-based health insurance. Job-based insurance failed us when we lost our jobs during the Great Recession and the pandemic. Job-based insurance can trap people in jobs they don’t want.
Worse, health insurance is purposely designed so that corporate executives and shareholders can make money. They charge us higher premiums than they pay out in claims and pocket the difference.
They delay and deny us care by limiting our choice of doctors, charging us high deductibles to even see a doctor and forcing us to get pre-authorizations for treatment.
Californians are desperate for relief from the stress, expense and hassles of corporate health insurance.
According to this 2021 study California Community Voices: Priorities & Preferences of Low-Income Californians for Health Care Reform (slide 18), 65% of Californians support a single, government-run health care system.
Fight back against media bias
Share the facts with your state legislators
AB 1400 Cal-Care represents new hope for California
Click here to find your rep
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HEAL California is an independent news and information hub focused on the Medicare for All movement. We feature non-partisan, timely news and views on social and streaming media, and uplift the voices of those fighting for healthcare reform around the country.
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