Single-Payer Health Care Plan ‘Most Appealing’ Solution, Columnist Hiltzik Writes
While Sen. Sheila Kuehl's (D-Los Angeles) proposed single-payer health insurance plan "isn't perfect," it is "an attempt to fix a failing system in one fell swoop, rather than with stopgap measures that will merely delay the reckoning," columnist Michael Hiltzik writes in the Los Angeles Times' Golden State column.
Kuehl's proposal (SB 840) would have the state finance comprehensive health coverage for all residents through a tax surcharge, and an elected commissioner would determine coverage specifications and provider payments, Hiltzik writes.
According to Hiltzik, Kuehl's proposal is the "most appealing" solution for the "ridiculously ineffective healthcare system," although it is would mark a "radical" change and remains a work "in progress." Hiltzik continues, "At the very least, it should focus the debate" (Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 10/6).