The single-payer insurance system of SB-840 is a sizable change from the current system of health insurance, so naturally people have lots of questions. Below you will find answers to some of the most common. A longer FAQ is also available from Health Care for All-California. If you have other questions, please contact us.

Will I be able to choose my doctor?

Yes. You will freely pick the doctor, not a corporate executive. You can keep your doctor even if you change jobs.

Who is opposed to SB-840?

Insurance companies oppose single-payer insurance because they want to maintain their control on our medical system in order to protect their profits.

Large corporations like Wal-Mart and McDonalds that currently offer no health insurance to their workforce oppose single-payer insurance because they would have to share the costs of covering their employees.

These corporate interests will say anything to defeat SB-840, but don't be fooled. For them, it's all about money.

I already have good insurance. Why should I care?

No one’s health insurance is secure. Health insurance is tied to work, marital, or student status. Because these things often change, you never know how long your insurance will last. Often people cannot continue working once they become seriously ill, so they lose their insurance when they most need it.

Even if you have a good policy now, it’s unlikely to remain that way. As we have seen over the past decade, insurers reduce coverage and raise rates at will, while employers shift costs to workers.

What’s the catch?

There is no catch. Universal health insurance systems are already the standard in the rest of the industrialized world. Every country that has one pays at least half what the US pays per capita, and most get better results. The same thing can be done here.

The final details of the finance system have yet to be worked out, but it's likely that the system would be funded similarly to Social Security: a 4% health tax would be withheld from your paycheck. Employers would share the cost, contributing another 8%. 

These rates are substantially less than what most workers and employers currently pay for health insurance. Because we each pay a little, we all share in providing secure insurance for everyone.

Will we have to wait for care like in Canada?

This objection is repeated over and over by our opposition in order to instill fear and doubt.

45 million uninsured Americans face financial barriers to medical care, which gives the illusion that we don't have waits here. But if you visit an emergency room, often clogged with the uninsured, be prepared to wait. Additionally, wait times are especially long in rural areas of the US, simply because doctors and hospital are scarcer there.

But wait times have little to do with the how insurance is paid for and more to do with whether countries have enough doctors, hospitals, and medical equipment. In Canada, there are too few resources for some patients who need less urgent care. The same problem would exist if Canada switched to private insurance, except the rich could jump to the front of the line at the expense of the poor waiting even longer.

Is this socialism?

Doctors are still in business for themselves and hospitals are still privately owned. What changes is that the state manages the insurance system.

The government already manages over half of the medical spending in the US, including VA services, Medicare, and Medicaid. No one calls this socialism.

Won’t this create a bloated bureaucracy?

Health insurance companies already have bloated bureaucracies that waste 33% of what’s spent on health insurance.

Government-run health insurance systems are lean and efficient. Medicare, for instance, spends only 3-4% of its funding on bureaucracy.

Won’t this cost too much?

Study after study has shown that single-payer insurance will save money over what we currently spend. Most recently, the Lewin Report has shown that SB-840 would save California families, workers, businesses, and local government 8 billion in 2006 and $343.6 billion between 2006 and 2015. Read the report for yourself.

Won't the state cut funding if there are budget shortfalls?

Funding doesn’t come from the general fund. It comes from dedicated health taxes and existing government programs. SB-840 prevents lawmakers from raiding these dedicated funds.

Won’t this lead to rationing?

Right now we already are seeing rationing of the worst kind. When you have to choose between paying the doctor and paying the rent--that's rationing. 45 million are uninsured and many more are underinsured, preventing them from the medical treatment they need. Corporate executives do the rationing, and every year, insurance policies cover less and less.

SB-840 is comprehensive, covering much more than most existing policies. Treatment decisions will be in the hands of you and your doctor.