What Is California Single-Payer Health Insurance?

This course will summarize the goals, values and basic concepts driving the substantial movement in California to replace for-profit private health insurance with a single-payer financing system. In the first class meeting, various definitions of the “single-payer” model will be compared with other forms of financing, both in the United States and in other highly developed countries. A 20-year history of insurance reform attempts will be reviewed and critiqued. In the second meeting, the impact of current insurance programs on access to health care will be assessed. Prospects for enactment of reform law will be considered, both for California and for the rest of the country, especially in light of the November election results. This will be an interactive, “lecture-discussion” format, and members will be invited to respond to challenging questions from the instructor.
Course Code
505413