How can California afford major health care reform during this period of budget deficits?
Budget deficits are caused in part by health care misspending in Californias dysfunctional health care system. SB 840 provides for a publicly financed health care system that is a major step toward deficit reduction and a balanced budget. The Lewin Group finds that over the 2006-2015 period, a single payer model similar to SB 840 would save California $345.6 billion in overall health costs. This includes state savings of $43.8 billion on public employees’ health insurance costs.[6] A 2005 Lewin Group analysis estimates that total spending for health care in California under the current system would be $184.2 billion in 2006, which would have been more than enough to cover every resident.[7] Health care dollars should be spent on providing health care and not on inefficient administration and waste. Uncontrolled costs in the current multi-payer system are causing an unsustainable burden on government budgets. 5. How can the General Fund provide SB 840 transition costs while budget defic
