Healthcare is costly, never free

Assemblymember Marie Waldron

AD-75 (R)

$400 billion dollars is the projected cost of a new government run healthcare plan proposed in Sacramento. That is twice the state's budget! Costing around $22,000 for every employed person in California – that's a massive new tax to pay for “free” healthcare for all!

Senate Bill 562, by Senator Ricardo Lara (D – Bell Gardens), sets up a single payer plan for everyone living in California, including undocumented immigrants. It bans private health plans and creates a two-tier system: private, fee-for-service care for the wealthy and politically connected, and a taxpayer funded government plan for everyone else.

Interestingly, the bill fails to identify a funding source but hints at a massive payroll tax deduction on working people. Since not everyone works, the cost per working person will actually be more! Since it applies to illegal immigrants – California would become a worldwide magnet for “free” health care!

Replacing health insurance and premiums, you pay higher taxes — upwards of a 15 percent payroll tax on workers! A nine-member panel would control all healthcare decisions in the state – creating a new government bureaucracy.

Despite all this, SB 562 passed the Senate floor this week and is headed to the Assembly, where I will see it in Assembly Health committee.

Competition is the best way to keep costs low – not one giant government program!

Join me in fighting SB 562. Send your comments to: [email protected]