Lanhee Chen: Single Payer for the Golden State?

The California State Senate recently passed legislation creating a government-run, single-payer health care system in the Golden State. The idea is so bad that even Governor Jerry Brown has expressed concerns about it. What’s wrong with the idea? It replaces the existing, largely private-sector system and will force people out of the health care plans they currently have. It will lead to the rationing of care and give to government the most intimate and sacred of our health care decisions. And left-wing lawmakers in California want to pay for their socialized health care system with mammoth tax increases, because the cost of their program is estimated to be more than the entirety of the state’s current budget. Public opinion polls reveal that most Californians are actually opposed to a single-payer health system. Yet, some politicians are following the lead of left-wing demagogues like Bernie Sanders, and pursuing policies that will literally bankrupt the state. Ultimately, California’s voters are the ones who have to say that enough is enough. Here’s to hoping that they do.