[New post] Advocating for Single-Payer Health in California
clim28 posted: " According to a survey done by the California Health Care Foundation in late 2021, it was reported that half (49%) of the surveyed California residents reported postponing or altogether skipping some sort of health care due to concern about the cost. Of t" Social, Cultural & Behavioral Issues in PHC & Global Health
According to a survey done by the California Health Care Foundation in late 2021, it was reported that half (49%) of the surveyed California residents reported postponing or altogether skipping some sort of health care due to concern about the cost. Of the 49% of residents that skipped health care, 47% of them reported that their condition worsened due to postponing or skipping the necessary health care. 25% of surveyed residents also reported difficulty paying at least one medical bill in the past year as well. The rising cost of health care has created a glaringly large issue of health care accessibility and affordability in the state of California. Despite recent increases to the healthcare budget and the establishment of an Office of Healthcare Affordability, there needs to be greater action taken.
Source: CHCF/NORC California Health Policy Survey (September 27, 2021–November 17, 2021).
This greater action would be in the form of a single-payer healthcare initiative that would provide universal healthcare for all California residents. Such a proposal has been introduced since the late 1990's, but has not been able to be passed despite going through many iterations in the past few decades. Most recently, this initiative has manifested in the form of the AB 1400 bill, but like its predecessors, was unsuccessful because it was unable to even undergo a vote in the state assembly earlier this year. This was largely in part due to the lack of support from state legislators for the bill.
The lack of support for the bill comes from opposing views such as those put forth by the California Chamber of Commerce, which believe that universal health care would cause economic decline and an overall loss in jobs for California residents. But, other organizations, such as National Nurses United, an organization of nurses who have seen the effects of rising health care directly on patients and quality of care, and Healthy California Now, a coalition of grassroots organizations all argue that this bill would rather benefit so many more constituents and can actually be budgeted for properly so as not to cause an economic decline.
Despite all of the differing opinions surrounding this initiative, the potential economical and political effects that single-payer healthcare would have on California residents would outweigh the costs and should be better communicated via influential grassroots organizations such as Healthy California Now and the Southern California chapter of Americans for Democratic Action to constituents, so that they may pressure their legislators into passing this bill.
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