To the editor: Christine Mai-Duc’s article on the governor’s race and single-payer healthcare was an excellent update (“In California governor race, single-payer healthcare is a litmus test. There’s still no way to pay for it,” May 8).
I agree with Jennifer Easton’s observation that any upcoming governor wouldn’t be able to implement such a change during a four-year term, but I would give a 10-year timeline to single-payer in California, not 20-25 years as she suggests.
I am a physician who has been advocating for Medicare for All for more than 50 years. Public support continues to build slowly but steadily. But we have yet to make the case effectively to both business and organized labor for a universal unified system of public financing. Winning over a critical mass of these two strategic constituencies is a necessary step to Medicare for All.
Xavier Becerra is correct when he says we would need a federal waiver for single-payer in one state — which isn’t coming until at least Jan. 20, 2029. Becerra’s reasonable goal to mitigate current devastating federal and state Medi-Cal cuts (threatening more than one-third of Californians) and achieving other winnable incremental steps toward single-payer in California makes the most sense right now. It is not the big prize, but this is the reality of the political moment in which we now find ourselves. Slow but steady wins the race.
Steve Tarzynski, Santa Monica
