Yes, the American Civil Liberties Union is branching into healthcare policy. They sponsor a plan called SB 921 - Kuehl, "Universal Health Coverage for All Californians". It is, in ACLU-speak, a "single Insurance plan to be offered by the state of California ..." It's features are -
* Universal Coverage based on residency
* NO NEW SPENDING
* Financed by a new payroll tax on all employees and employers
* Additionally financed by a tax on unearned income.
* Additionally financed by a tax on tobacco and alcohol
* Worker's comp and All existing state healthcare spending will be rolled into this new
plan
* No co-payments or deductibles
* Spending growth rate capped at GDP plus population growth
* Covers essentially everything, including mental health, drugs, dental, vision,
hearing, ambulance, home nursing, substance abuse recovery, and health education.
* Governance provided by a new healthcare agency.
Notice the deceptive use of the word "offered" as if this were a product being marketed. When they say "offered", do they mean I can opt out, and avoid all those taxes? Dumb question.
How can they claim "NO NEW SPENDING"? Maybe they take all present spending by individuals and employers as a baseline. Notice also the total disregard for market mechanisms, by having zero co-pay, and how it presumes all the worker's comp problems are solved by rolling them into this new plan. It promises everything to everyone, so no medical provider is left out. And in a callus disregard for economic liberty, it makes employers, taxpayers, consumers of tobacco and alcohol, pay for the healthcare of everyone.
Notice they have assumed some spending growth rate cap. That means the bureaucrats in the new healthcare agency will control costs by rationing service. They will do so by putting sick people on a waiting list that grows ever longer, until people die before obtaining healthcare. Call it compassionate socialism. No fair trying to pay for healthcare with your own money; that will be against the law, as it was under Clinton’s National Healthcare (Hillary-Care) plan.
So here we have a centrally planned healthcare delivery system, founded on coercion and devoid of market mechanisms, that kills California jobs by increasing payroll taxes. I suggest we change ACLU to AETU - American Economic Tyranny Union.