Why has Gavin Newsom Done Nothing on Single Payer Medicare for All?

Gavin Newsom Embraced by the CNA for his Single Payer support

This will be a short post and a slightly crabby one. Gavin Newsom, with the enthusiastic support of the California Nurses Association, campaigned for governor and won on single payer Medicare for All health care system. He then promptly appointed a bunch of people who have specialized in incremental approaches to health care reform. He “discovered” that its hard to fund single payer without a federal waiver that allows you to re-allocate Medicare and Medicaid (called MediCal here) dollars (everyone who knows anything about the realities of healthcare financing knows this). And…crickets.  No movement on this front whatsoever.

Also, as far as I can tell, no blowback from the California Nurses Association despite his not keeping his promises.  

If anybody wonders why I plan to vote for the only candidate running for president who has a lifelong commitment to single payer Medicare for all, someone who goes into it with eyes wide open as to the sea change and political courage it will take to defeat the health care industry, someone who isn’t just paying lip service to a popular program at a particular point in time, they just got their answer.

Governor Newsom, if you ever want to be president (and you clearly do), you need to actually get it done and not just talk about it.