California to consider going rogue with state single-payer system

By Keith Koffler, Keith Koffler

Published February 27, 2017

With congressional Republicans working to end Obamacare, California will consider going it alone and instituting a statewide single-payer health insurance system.

State Sen. Ricardo Lara introduced a bill Friday that would make California the first state to adopt a single-payer system, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Single-payer bills made it through the state's legislature in 2006 and 2008 but were vetoed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Under such a system, the government essentially becomes the health insurer, sidelining private insurance companies and dictating coverage.

"More than ever, we know that universal healthcare is popular in the minds of Californians," Lara told the Times.