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Quality of Life

Single Payer Dead in California This Year

Single Payer Dead in California This Year
The state's budget crisis has forced California lawmakers to kill a number of health-related bills for the year. One of the measures would have created a single payer healthcare system.

The state's budget crisis has forced California lawmakers to kill a number of health-related bills for the year. One of the measures would have created a single payer healthcare system.

The single payer bill would have created one state agency to provide healthcare to all Californians. Supporters say the measure would have saved the state billions of dollars a year, by eliminating insurance company overhead.

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State lawmakers say California can't afford to make that transition this year.

Sylvia Hampton is with the League of Women Voters of San Diego County. She says the idea is not dead.

"We will bring single payer back, and it will pass, like it did twice before," Hampton says. "But the next time, our hope is that it will not be vetoed by the governor."

Another health-related bill that's been shelved would have required all employers to provide paid sick leave.