Note: AB 1400 is a “policy” bill. It does not include a financing plan. Rather it indicates the intent to pass a second bill that would develop a revenue plan once the policy is approved. (A financing bill will require a two-thirds vote.) So when we hear, “How are we going to pay for everyone to have health care?” Here’s the answer: “We’re already paying for it. We’re just not getting it.” And when the price tag for a single payer system comes up and someone says, “How are we going to pay for it?” The answer is: “We’ll pay for it by having a single payer system. The savings are in the system.”
We’re already paying twice as much on average as countries that provide universal health care for entire populations, and we’re leaving tens of millions without needed care. A single payer system is a way to pay less and get more. A streamlined public financing system gets rid of fragmented administration and private insurance plans that accounts for a third or more of every healthcare dollar being wasted on something other than health care. (Eligibility determination; marketing of myriad plans; advertising; processing bills, prior authorizations, and claim denials; lobbying to fight regulation and increase privatization; profits; CEO executive salaries.)
The money saved by eliminating for-profit plans goes directly into the system to pay for actual health care. More savings come from negotiating drug prices and bulk purchase of medical products. Once savings are achieved, there remains a manageable amount that will require modest contributions from individuals and businesses.
Instead of paying high and unpredictable premiums, deductibles, co-pays, and other out of pocket costs, individuals will pay an entirely affordable tax–and pay nothing when they go to get care. Businesses, instead of juggling expensive, inadequate employee health plans, will pay a simple and affordable health tax to the single payer fund. All studies have found that the majority of individuals and businesses, with the exception of the most wealthy, will pay less than what they pay now with everyone receiving the best care available.