California Senate votes for single-payer health

Noted in several publications, the California Senate voted for the state government to become the single payer for healthcare in the state. The bill will go to the California Assembly for additional discussion. According to The Mercury News, even one of the bill's sponsors dubbed the bill "a work in progress." Significantly, the bill omits key details, including a way for paying for the system. The California Nurses Association apparently commissioned a study that finds that the healthcare costs can be paid for with a payroll tax and a gross receipts tax.

It will be interesting to see how the details of the legislation gets filled in over time. Kaiser Health News previously reported that the system would largely rely on fee-for-service, a reimbursement system that rewards healthcare providers for volume and is widely blamed for at least part of the rapid growth in healthcare costs. The rest of the country has been moving away from fee-for-service.

Regardless of whether the legislation gains traction, that the bill has passed the California Senate (especially missing the key details that it did) signifies the general discontent with the current healthcare system. Other states that have seriously considered single-payer health include Vermont and Colorado.