Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
California Pumps Brakes On 'Woefully Incomplete' Single-Payer Legislation
The Associated Press: California Assembly Leader Shelves Single-Payer Health Plan
The prospects of a government-run health care system in California dimmed Friday when the leader of the state Assembly announced he doesn't plan to take up the single-payer bill this year. Speaker Anthony Rendon called the bill "woefully incomplete." "Even senators who voted for SB 562 noted there are potentially fatal flaws in the bill," the Los Angeles-area Democrat said in a statement. (6/23)
California Healthline: Blaming ‘Threat’ Of GOP Health Bill, California Hits Pause On Single Payer
A bill pushing a state-based single-payer system was brought to a halt late Friday when Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, declined to move it forward. The bill will not get a hearing by the Assembly Rules Committee before the July 14 deadline, though it could be taken up again in 2018. It passed the California Senate on June 1. (Feibel, 6/26)
Sacramento Bee: California Assembly Stalls Universal Health Care Bill
Democratic Sens. Ricardo Lara and Toni Atkins, who introduced the proposal, acknowledged the bill was dead for the year. Lara and Atkins had described the bill as a work in progress when it passed the Senate earlier this month without a funding plan. A legislative analysis pegged the cost at $400 billion. 6/23)
Sacramento Bee: Bernie Sanders Unhappy With Parking Of California Universal Health Care Bill
Having recently urged California to be the nation’s leader in instituting universal health care policy, Sanders has been a strong supporter of Senate Bill 562, which would create a universal, publicly funded health care system for the state... In parking the bill, Rendon called the legislation fatally flawed, noting “serious issues, such as financing, delivery of care, cost controls, or the realities of needed action by the Trump administration and voters to make SB 562 a genuine piece of legislation.” (McGough, 6/24)
