Single-payer plan advances.

Senate OKs $400B health care bill described as ‘ not cooked’ and ‘a work in progress’

SACRAMENTO — As a legislative deadline loomed, California senators Thursday — in some cases, reluctantly — voted to pass a $400 billion plan to create a governmentrun health care system without a way to pay for it.

Senate Bill 562, by Sens. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, and Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, passed 23-14 and will now advance to the Assembly, where it will likely be amended to include taxes. And that would mean the measure would require twothirds votes in both chambers.

“What we did today was really approve the concept of a single-payer system in California,” Lara said in an interview after the vote.

The California Nurses Asso- ciation, the bill’s lead sponsor, has pushed the proposal hard, organizing demonstrations at the California Democratic Convention last month and promising to “primary” incumbent Democrats who don’t jump on board. On Wednesday, a study commissioned by the nurses concluded that Californians could save tens of billions of dollars annually under such a system through lowering of drug prices and elimination of administrative overhead.

Most California families and businesses, the University of Massachusetts study said, would pay less for health care than they do now, even with the new taxes, because they would no longer pay premiums, deductibles or co-pays.

A Senate committee analysis released last week, however, estimated that the state would have to raise $200 billion in revenue each year, which it said could be done through a 15 percent payroll tax.

Republicans argued forcefully against the bill, questioning its cost and the very idea of a government-run program.

“How do we possibly pay for this thing?” asked Sen. Tom Berryhill, R-Oakdale.

Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa, said he felt like he was in the car with “Thelma and Louise.”

“Colleagues, cliff dead ahead,” he said.

Lara acknowledged the bill was “a work in progress.” One of the many big questions left unanswered in the thin, 38-page proposal is whether the federal government would permit California to use existing Medicare funding for such a plan. The state also doesn’t know whether Congress will slash health care funding by repealing the Affordable Care Act.