Over a $140,000,000 poorer, Meg Whitman exited the political scene stage right.  Entering stage left, to become Governor of California, Jerry Brown will soon replace Two-Time-Vetoator Arnold Schwarzenegger.

What does this mean for SB 810 (authored by Sen. Mark Leno), our single payer legislation?

Jerry Brown did not endorse or oppose SB 810 during his campaign for Governor.  We’ve heard, second hand, that he wishes to “see the numbers.”  That is, he wants to know if a single payer system (i.e., SB 810) will truly save money for the residents of California while not increasing state spending.  Will SB 810 help or hurt the state budget deficit?

The answer is clear and irrefutable. SB 810 will dramatically save billions of dollars each year we now waste on healthcare spending while providing healthcare coverage for all residents of California. There are two sources of information that provide the evidence.

The first source: 19 objective economic studies over the past 20 years have all concluded that a single payer system saves money while providing health care for everyone; see
(http://www.pnhp.org/reader/Section%201%20-%20Get%20the%20Facts/Single%20Payer%20Cost.pdf).

The second source: every other major industrialized nation with a single payer system (or highly regulated non-profit insurance system) provides care for all their residents while per capita spending on health care averages nearly one half of what we spend in the U.S.

In short, Mr. Brown, the evidence is available.  Now, what we need is political will.

During the coming year, we will pass SB 810, once more, and send the legislation to the new Governor’s desk.  We will need the full support of all of you to make sure the Assembly members don’t chicken out and stall the legislation on the floor of the Assembly.  In the coming weeks and months we’ll keep you informed of progress and suggest activities that can assure success in the Assembly.

Since we hired a new Governor on November 2nd, we expect that he will perform his job admirably, during a very severe budget crisis, and sign SB 810.

When we gaze in our crystal ball, we see Governor Brown signing SB 810 sometime in mid-September.  We’ll begin celebrating before the ink dries.

If Whitman would have won, we would have put our crystal ball on the shelf for four, or possibly eight, years. Can you imagine?

Andrew McGuire
Executive Director
California OneCare Campaign