California voters are choosing among top gubernatorial candidates in a high-stakes race where single-payer health care has lost central attention. Of the top five candidates, only one clearly supports a single-payer model that would align California with other industrialized countries. Billionaire Tom Steyer, a Democrat, argues single-payer is the only way to reduce rapidly rising health care costs. Steyer previously supported a public option and criticized Bernie Sanders’s single-payer plan, but later reversed course and gained an endorsement from the California Nurses Association. Bernie Sanders is credited with popularizing “Medicare for All,” and advocates for state action when federal progress stalls. Katie Porter supports single-payer but doubts near-term feasibility, while Xavier Becerra has moved away from supporting single-payer.
"California voters are in the thick of a high-stakes governor's race, in which single-payer health care, an issue that was once central to state politics, has been pushed to the sidelines. Of the top five candidates, only one unequivocally supports a health care model that would finally put California on par with the rest of the industrialized world."
"Billionaire Tom Steyer, running as a Democrat, says single-payer is the only way to bring down spiraling health care costs. In 2020, Steyer ran for president on a platform touting a "public option," and attacking Senator Bernie Sanders's single-payer health care plan. Now, Steyer has reversed that position, earning the coveted endorsement of the California Nurses Association, one of the state's most aggressive proponents of single-payer."
"Sanders is widely credited with popularizing single-payer or "Medicare for All," which would make health care a freely available and publicly funded resource much like public schools or libraries. In the face of federal intransigence, single-payer proponents have advocated for states to enact their own programs. Indeed, California has come close to enacting "CalCare," its own version of single-payer, several times in recent years."
"Steyer's opponent and fellow Democrat Katie Porter has also said she supports single-payer but worries about its feasibility. In a public forum hosted by Politico last year, she said, "I don't think it's realistic in the next couple of years for the state to push forward on that," adding that she believed it was more appropriate for the federal government to take it on instead."
#california-politics #gubernatorial-election #single-payer-health-care #medicare-for-all #health-care-costs
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