Crazy in California—Pushing State Single Payer Plan

Our legislators are nuts, that’s the only explanation. California is impecunious.  We’re dead broke. We are flat on our faces, so deeply in debt it seems we will never get out.  In short, we have no money, our pockets are empty, we are one step ahead of the kneecap breakers.  Our schools are in trouble. Our infrastructure is beginning to collapse. Our universities are becoming third rate.  Our unemployment rate is through the roof.  In case I haven’t been clear, California is really messed up.

And what does our Democratic-controlled Legislature doing?  Passing single payer health care! From the story:

As national health care reform grew more uncertain, the California Legislature on Thursday pushed forward a controversial proposal to create a single-payer health system in the state. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 6-3 along party lines, with Democrats in favor of the proposal, which will be considered by the full Senate next week. The vote came two days after Massachusetts voters elected a Republican U.S. senator to fill the seat long held by Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy - putting President Obama’s national health bill in jeopardy. Backers of the California plan said the timing was coincidental and due to legislative timelines. But political observers said the vote could come back to hurt state Democrats in November and viewed the move as motivated by the turmoil in Washington, D.C. Similar incarnations of the California plan have twice been passed by the Legislature and both were vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. A spokeswoman for the Republican governor said Thursday he would veto this bill if it comes to his desk. Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, is sponsoring the bill, and said states will have to act to create single-payer systems. The public option, a form of single-payer insurance, appears unlikely to be part of the final national bill, if there is a final bill. “We always wished there would be single-payer reform in Washington, but given the political reality that that’s not going to happen, it’s not going to deter us from the pursuit of single-payer in this state,” Leno said.

They tell us—they always tell us—it will pay for itself.  Baloney. These kind of things never do. Ask Hawaii, which had to rescind a health care plan for children. Ask Massachusetts.  Heck, look at Medicare.  Moreover, they want to pay for it with a huge payroll tax!

The proposal, which is estimated to cost $200 billion, would eliminate private health insurance in California and replace it with a state-run system, which would be provided to every California resident. That system would be overseen by a new state agency that also would ultimately decide what services the coverage would entail. The price tag would be paid by pooling all state and federal money currently spent on health services, which would require federal approval, along with a payroll tax that would be paid by both employees and workers. In a previous incarnation of the bill, that tax was set at 16 percent. The financing is not part of the latest version. Backers also think the single-payer system will greatly reduce administrative costs, which also would help pay for the system.

Ah, more bureaucracy in a state already stifled by bureaucracy!  A source of huge employment destroyed.  Yea, that’s the ticket: Just what the doctor ordered.  I also wonder how many businesses will move out of state if it imposes a huge payroll tax? I’d wager many, and many will reduce staff that stay to save money on their taxes.  Talk about how not to cure our huge unemployment problem.  Good grief,, can our so-called leaders be any more dense?