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Tuesday, February 4, 2025

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Canada and Mexico agree with Trump to postpone tariffs by at least 30 days; Indiana steps up to get the lead out; UW study: Rural women have it harder with menopause; Cost of living tops Denver lawmaker's priorities.

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Democrats protest Elon Musk's meddling in federal payment systems, Trump directs Cabinet secretaries to funnel federal dollars to private and religious schools and Virginia lawmakers aim to restore felon voting rights.

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As bird flu spreads, egg prices continue to soar, wildfires aren't stopping Americans from moving to wildfire-prone states, and post-pandemic infrastructure isn't just roads and bridges but also education, healthcare and economic opportunity.

Groups Vow to Fight On as Single-Payer Health-Care Bill Dies

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Wednesday, February 2, 2022   

Advocates for a single-payer, government-funded health-care system in California are vowing to fight another day, after Assembly Bill 1400 was pulled Monday for lack of votes.

The bill would have allowed people to ditch their private insurance, something opponents say amounts to a government takeover that would require big tax increases. However, Assembly member Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, the main author of the bill, said the high costs in the existing, private-insurance system put coverage out of reach for many low-income families.

"Currently, California families and businesses spend over $220 billion a year out of their pocket for health care," he said, "and so even the taxation mechanisms that were introduced, the reality is that costs would go down for the average Californian family and business."

The bill aimed to create a "Medicare-for-all" type system to guarantee affordable health care to all Californians and give the state leverage to negotiate lower rates from providers. To pay for it, the bill would have raised taxes on high-earning businesses and on large employers, plus a payroll tax on those making around $50,000 and progressive income taxes on people making more than $149,500 a year.

Catherine Kennedy, a president of the California Nurses Association and a neonatal intensive-care unit nurse at Kaiser Roseville, said Americans of all income levels deserve comprehensive health care.

"We don't give up," she said. "This is really about health care being a human right. It's a groundswell, and we are going to make this happen."

Advocacy groups have said they will keep building support for a single-payer system and try again once a new Legislature is seated after the November election.


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