California Democrats in disarray over massive defeat on single-payer healthcare

Voter backlash against the $391 billion price tag, fierce opposition from the insurance industry, and overreach by the Democrats seemed the likely culprits when A.B. 1400 was pulled minutes before an Assembly vote. State Sen. Melissa Melendez, a Republican, was not surprised.

“What Democrats in their right minds would want to bring it forward because they would be crucified?” said Melendez, who represents Riverside County in Southern California. “The people of California were not for it.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who championed single-payer healthcare in his 2018 election, said he wasn’t surprised. Two weeks ago, he criticized the Democrats pushing the bill in an interview with Fox2 News in Oakland.

“I don’t know what they’re doing, I read about it in the newspaper, and it surprised everybody, including myself,” Newsom said.

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Republican Assemblyman Kevin Kiley was waiting to vote on A.B. 1400, and everyone had steeled themselves for lengthy debate. Then the session adjourned.

“People were very surprised” that the bill wasn’t called, he said. “There was certainly a sense of relief that we had managed to stop this in its tracks. They needed 41 out of 56 Democrats to vote for it.”

The bill to create “CalCare” was leftover from last year and would have died if it didn’t pass on Jan. 31. It was to have a constitutional amendment funding it with costs exceeding the state’s yearly budget.

“There is an approach that’s a better approach, and it was an approach we were taking that was embraced by many of the same legislators that for some reason has changed a little bit, and this bill comes out of nowhere,” Newsom said.

He said the state needed buy-in from the federal government because “you can’t do it without Medicare, you can’t do it without Medicaid.”

Melendez claims Newsom feigned surprise because Democrats would not have tried to push the bill through without his blessing. She says he started getting wary when it was apparent the votes weren’t there.

“He’s acting like he didn’t know about it — they have been talking about this. It’s not like the first time they’re trying to put forward a single-payer healthcare bill,” Melendez said. “The governor suggesting he was blindsided by it is laughable.”

Newsom was “giving himself an exit door” by criticizing the legislation, she said.

CalCare’s author, Democrat Assemblyman Ash Kalra, hinted in a statement that the fight is not over.

“The facts are on our side that a single-payer system will save money and lives — and the people are on our side that meaningful healthcare reform is urgently needed,” Kalra said. “Especially with four democratic vacancies in the Assembly, the votes were not there today, but we will not give up. Healthcare is a human right.”

CalCare would have given all Californians, including noncitizens, universal healthcare managed by the state. California has already passed legislation allowing immigrants in some age brackets to receive Medi-Cal. The current $268 billion budget proposal closes that loop and provides healthcare for all immigrants.

Melendez believes Democrats will have the votes to pass the budget.

Meanwhile, Kiley thinks Newsom’s big defeat on healthcare doesn’t mean he will give up but rather try other ways to get across the finish line. But with his recall attempt last year and residents leaving the state in droves, some tarnish has formed on Newsom’s crown.

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“I think there is a major desire for change in California right now,” Kiley said. “The fact that they could not corral the votes to pass this bill is a sign of that. People are not looking to continue failed policies and not looking to go in a radical direction. They are looking for sanity to get California back on t