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The ‘payer’ in ‘single-payer’ health care is government — and you

Tom Steyer, the controversial billionaire who ran unsuccessfully for president, is trying to appeal to California voters with a “single-payer” health care policy.

He is not alone. Former Congresswoman Katie Porter and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra also proclaim their support for single-payer. 

Together, these three are California’s highest-polling Democrats running for governor. And with support for “single-payer,” they are united behind what would be one of the biggest expansions of government power ever proposed in this state.

“Single-payer” sounds technical. Clean. Almost harmless.What it means is that the government pays the bills. Which means, ultimately, the taxpayer.

When Steyer, Porter and Becerra say California needs single-payer health care, they mean a government-run financing system that would replace private insurance as the main payer of health care costs. 

In fact, as it’s been introduced in the legislature, it would prohibit private insurance companies from providing any services offered by the newly mandated government health care program. So even if you like what you have now, it will be gone as you know it under this new regime.

And the state of California would become the dominant financial gatekeeper for health care for nearly 40 million people.

That is the ballgame. Under single-payer, existing health care plans in California would be displaced by one giant government plan. Employer coverage, union-negotiated plans, private individual policies, and much of the current insurance market would be pushed aside. 

Think less “consumer choice” and more government control. Start with the cost.The commonly cited estimate, based on prior single-payer analyses, is roughly $392 billion a year. Not over a decade. Just for each year.

California’s entire 2025-26 state budget is........

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