https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/03/27/how-do-americans-feel-about-single-payer-health-care-its-complicated/?utm_term=.cd7484fde7b6

In the wake of the collapse of the Republican health-care proposal on Friday, there was an instantaneous effort by the progressive left to pick up the fumble and return it for a touchdown. As The Washington Post’s Dave Weigel reported, some Democrats quickly saw the failure as an opportunity to advance a long-held objective: a national, single-payer, health-care system matching those in countries such as Canada and Britain.

That effort was bolstered by tweets like this one, from progressive filmmaker Michael Moore.

“Remember this poll,” he tweeted, “the majority AGREE!”

But it’s not that simple.

Moore links to an article from The Post published in May, as the Democratic nominating contest was wrapping up. That article looked at polling from Gallup that presented respondents with a series of nonexclusive options for how the American health-care system might move forward: federally centralized health care, a repeal of the Affordable Care Act (i.e., Obamacare) or keeping Obamacare as the system.

Of those three, federally funded health care — that is, single-payer — was the most popular, with 58 percent support.

http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/single-payer-healthcare-proposal-introduced-california-senate?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWXpVMk16RXlNV00zTm1OayIsInQiOiIzS3NXdllRRU1HNHZlb0Q1aVBYV0hFazRSbGk4dWc3S0FvZERGbHJDeW53Z2ZTb0xCdFhhWEVPcHBBUlVcLytBR1dkTTF0cElHTDRxU0NMSXJ0bWhQUUNvSzl1TVFtaVh2SUhiYkxNTVozNW54SmJCRXhCWDhZT2VGcGNGNlZSdXYifQ%3D%3D

Legislation introduced in the California Senate last week would set the state on a path toward the possible creation of a single-payer health care system ― a proposal that has failed to gain traction here in the past.

The bill, which is a preliminary step, says that it is the “intent of the Legislature” to enact a law that would establish a comprehensive, single-payer health care program for the benefit of everyone in the state. The legislation, introduced by state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), does not offer specifics of what the plan would look like, nor does it mention a timetable.

A single-payer system would replace private insurance with a government plan that pays for coverage for everyone. Proponents argue that single-payer systems make health care more affordable and efficient, but opponents say they raise taxpayer costs and give government too much power.

Medicare, the federally-funded health coverage for the elderly, is often held up as a model of what a single-payer system might look like.

Lara said in an interview late last week that the state needs to be prepared in case the Affordable Care Act is repealed, as President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have promised.

“The health of Californians is really at stake here and is at risk with what is being threatened in Congress,” Lara said, as the debate continued in Washington about the future of President Barack Obama‘s signature health law. “We don’t have the luxury to wait and see what they are going to do and what the plan is,”

Lara noted that while the Affordable Care Act expanded health coverage for many Californians, it left others uninsured or underinsured. He said the single-payer bill builds upon his “health for all kids” legislation, which resulted in coverage beginning last May for 170,000 immigrant children here illegally.