The price tag on universal health care is in, and its bigger than Californias budget

[PoliticAverse]

The price tag is in: It would cost $400 billion to remake California’s health insurance marketplace and create a publicly funded universal heath care system, according to a state financial analysis released Monday.

California would have to find an additional $200 billion per year, including in new tax revenues, to create a so-called “single-payer” system, the analysis by the Senate Appropriations Committee found. The estimate assumes the state would retain the existing $200 billion in local, state and federal funding it currently receives to offset the total $400 billion price tag.

The cost analysis is seen as the biggest hurdle to creating a universal system, proposed by Sens. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, and Toni Atkins, D-San Diego.

It remains a long-shot bid. Steep projected costs have derailed efforts over the past two decades to establish such a health care system in California. The cost is higher than the $180 billion in proposed general fund and special fund spending for the budget year beginning July 1.

Read the rest at: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article151960182.html

[alfredo]

1. This option has some appeal, but would need some changes

http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/14/2/40.full.pdf

I'm a member of the FEHB, and it has served me well.

[BigmanPigman]

2. Damn! I live in San Diego and was following this.

I thought there was a good chance until now. I guess I was just hoping.

[pbmus]

3. Why is current pricing costs used to establish total cost?

Universal health and especially single payer would negotiate pricing costs much lower than current ...

[lapfog_1]

4. This would be complete bullshit

$400,000,000,000 / 39,140,000 = $10,219 per person per year for health insurance.

That's for every man, woman, and child in Californa.

Even if only 50% are in the "low risk or healthy" pool... that would be some $19,000 a year for the higher risk pool...

I'm sure a large high-risk pool could find insurance for $19K a year.

[PoliticAverse]

6. Yeah that seems high. I haven't been able to find a copy of the report with the actual numbers yet.

[PoliticAverse]

7. The analysis behind the numbers can be found here....

(2 .pdf files)
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB562

[stuffmatters]

5. Controlling /negotiating drug & medical costs should way lower that 200 billion gap.

We're a huge state & a huge market...we have clout with insurance & drug companies. 6th biggest economy in the world, hard to believe insurance companies would exit.

Also how about taxing all these mega corps so proud of their headquarters in Ca but they don't pay Ca tax..starting with the tax cheat behemoths in Silicon Valley... think of their shiny new hq montrosities that don't even pay a city tax.
Funding from establishing a CA State Bank could also stream substantial and stable revenue, even be a strong act of economic healthcare for our citizens.

Our local newscaster tonight almost defiantly announced the 400 billion figure. I suspect this is a premature figure that has not factored in the many ways that single payer can control both medical and drug costs. I thought that
was an inevitable benefit for single payer.

I'd be interested in hearing what insurance expert Wendell Potter and economists like (our own) Ellen Brown, Jared Bernstein and Dean Baker have to say.

Somehow this 200 billion gap just doesn't make sense if the State controls the cost machinery rather than vice versa.