---
title: "California has an economy the size of France, so it should be…"
date: 2017-05-08
source: facebook
type: Archer T. Ships shared a link.
---

# California has an economy the size of France, so it should be…

*May 8, 2017 · Facebook*

::::: {}
::: {}
[http://www.kcra.com/article/single-payer-health-care-bill-passes-1st-hurdle-at-california-capitol/9568212](http://www.kcra.com/article/single-payer-health-care-bill-passes-1st-hurdle-at-california-capitol/9568212){target="_blank"}
:::

::: {}
California has an economy the size of France, so it should be possible to implement single payer here, independent of the rest of the US. And indeed, progressives have put forth a bill to create a single payer in CA, SB 562.\
\
How much will it cost, you might ask?\
\
Only twice as much as the entire California state budget.\
\
Given that other social welfare programs such as Social Security and Medicare have cost multiples of their initial projected costs, that means that single payer California would likely cost double or triple that.\
\
\"The biggest hurdle facing supporters right now is the cost of SB 562.\
\
Even the co-authors, Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Los Angeles, and Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, don't know the price tag.\
\
But state analysts estimate single-payer health care would cost at least \$250 billion \-- and that is troubling to Gov. Jerry Brown's office.\
\
"Where are you going to find the money?" said H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for the governor's Department of Finance. "How are you going to fund a system that under conservative estimates would cost you twice as much as the entire California general fund budget next year?"\"\
\
[http://www.kcra.com/article/single-payer-health-care-bill-passes-1st-hurdle-at-california-capitol/9568212](http://www.kcra.com/article/single-payer-health-care-bill-passes-1st-hurdle-at-california-capitol/9568212){target="_blank"}
:::
:::::
