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California state Senate passes single-payer health care bill
State Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) is a co-author of the bill.
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Rich Pedroncelli/AP
)
The state Senate passed a bill Thursday that would create a single-payer health care system in California. The bill, SB 562, now moves to the Assembly.
The measure, which passed 23-14, would largely do away with private health insurance and set up a state bureaucracy to pay for all medical care.
In floor debate Thursday, the bill’s supporters and detractors alike called it "not fully cooked." For one thing, the bill’s authors still need to work out a way to pay for it.
Different analyses have estimated that the state would have to raise between $100 and $200 billion a year to cover the cost of setting up single payer.
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