Not that any of us needed additional reminders, but Californians in the past year have seen the stark limits of government power as state bureaucracies mishandle their most fundamental responsibilities.
We’re all still reeling from the Newsom administration’s contradictory responses to COVID-19. Meanwhile, the state Employment Development Department struggles to pay unemployment benefits to legitimate recipients even as it paid billions of dollars in fraudulent claims. . .
. . .Single-payer proponents believe that the current system of private and public health programs is inefficient. In reality, a mish-mash of private insurance plans and government-support programs is more accountable and reliable than a top-down system managed by a single government entity. Throwing out the current method endangers the mostly top-notch healthcare that Californians now receive – and will lead to easily predictable results.
“The waits imposed by government-run health systems often have tragic and irreversible consequences,” wrote the Pacific Research Institute’s Sally Pipes on these pages last year. In addition to lower-quality care and longer waits, single-payer health systems require enormous tax increases that imperil the economy.
Before lawmakers embrace these proposals, they need to remember how the state handles other matters. Do we want our healthcare handled with the “efficiency” of the Employment Development Department or the Department of Motor Vehicles? . . .
