While efforts for national health reform remain uncertain, a push for universal health coverage is alive and well in California, reports California Healthline.
Here are four things to know.
1. Multiple proposals have come forth regarding universal health coverage in the state.
2. Sens. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, and Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, seek a single, government-financed program for all Californians, according to the report. The lawmakers have co-authored legislation that would pave the way for doing so. Through the legislation, which is co-sponsored by the California Nurses Association, they ultimately want to help establish a system of "Medicare for all" where the government manages the program, according to the report. Funding for such a program remains uncertain.
3. Also, another lawmaker, California Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, is advocating for creation of the Health Care for All commission that would give input to policymakers on the best options for universal health coverage, and Democratic California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is looking into possibilities for universal health coverage, the report states.
4. Still, the idea of universal health coverage in California has skeptics. Heath policy experts, for instance, contend significant political and fiscal challenges would be involved, according to the report.
"There are different ways to get there," Jonathan Oberlander, PhD, professor of social medicine and health policy at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, said in the report. "None of them is easy."
Read the full report here.