by Marian Shostrom and Pat Snyder, LWVDV Health Care Issue Co-Chairs
The Healthy CA for All Commission held its final meeting on April 25, 2022. The Commission voted, with one dissent, to send the Final Report, Key Design Considerations to Governor Newsom. Analysis found that in the first year of implementation, California will see lower total health care expenditures than under the status quo. The Commission found that a unified financing approach to health care could save 4000 lives and $500 billion over the next decade. If the state maintains its current private insurer-based system, health care costs in California would jump 30% over the next decade.
Under a unified financing system, California would have a statewide system to arrange, pay for, and assure health care in which:
- All Californians will be entitled to receive a standard package of health care services;
- 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.
The report describes the benefits over the current system, and outlines the next steps that will move California toward a unified financing system for health care. California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly led the Commission. He promised that the report will not be “put on a shelf”, and that he will commit HHS staff to move forward on developing a plan for implementation with better data on costs and seeking necessary waivers. Activists are organizing to urge the Governor to take action so that California has a more effective, efficient, and equitable health care system.
The LWVNYS Updated Healthcare and Financing Healthcare Positions will be on the LWVUS Convention Agenda. LWVDV supported putting the Concurrence on the agenda for a discussion and a vote. At the Convention there will be a thorough discussion before delegates vote. If you want to view materials in advance of the Convention, see NYS Concurrence Study Materials. (If your time is limited, here is the PowerPoint, which contains 9 slides.)
Of the 98 Leagues requesting that the Concurrence be put on the Agenda, thirteen were from California: Berkeley/Albany/Emeryville, Cupertino/Sunnyvale, Davis Area, Diablo Valley, Los Altos/Mountain View, Marin, Oakland, Orange Coast, Palo Alto, Sacramento, San Jose/Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Southwest Santa Clara Valley.
