Warren: The Next Step For Dems Is Single-Payer Health Care

[frazzled]

15. I've said this before and I'll say it again

This is never going to happen until one or more states manages to implement a successful, statewide single-payer system of their own. Two states have failed so far (Vermont and Colorado). California is making plans, but it may be a real uphill battle because of costs ($400 billion per year--which is twice as much as the entire state government budget proposed by Gov. Brown for next year). I hope they succeed. Because we need a demonstration program before anything can ever hope to be passed at the federal level.

That's how major legislation or Supreme Court rulings generally go. Massachusetts had to have a successful state health insurance program before the federal government went ahead to consider one based largely on that model. Individual states had to start implementing marriage equality before a federal decision on the issue was ruled.

Another thing that has to be considered is the political climate. Right now we are in a battle to the death just to fend off ACA repeal and replacement with a devastating Republican "plan" that really just amounts to a tax cut for the wealthy. If you think that anything like a single-payer health system could be passed in such a climate, you're probably like the six-year old who when told to eat their spinach says "I want ice cream" instead.

I'm not knocking the idea of a single-payer system being an ultimate goal. But I am knocking politicians feeding you rainbows and unicorns just to get your oohs and aahs. It's playing on naivete and dreams.