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Members of the California Nurses Association and supporters rally at the state Capitol calling for a single-payer health plan on June 28, 2017, in Sacramento. When running for governor in 2018, Gavin Newsom vowed to implement single-payer health care and the pressure is mounting to make good on that promise. (Photo by Rich Pedroncelli/AP, via CalMatters)
Along with a pandemic, a recession, closed schools, ongoing budget negotiations and a likely recall campaign coming later this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom now has one more political problem to deal with: How to keep — or break — one of his biggest campaign promises.
When running for governor in 2018, Newsom vowed to replace an “inefficient and wasteful” patchwork of private insurance companies and programs with a single, state-funded health plan for everyone. “I don’t know how to do it, because it’s never been done. But I believe it can be done. And if any state can prove it, we can,” he told CalMatters then. “I’m willing to tackle this.” Progressive activists and the powerful California Nurses Association rallied to his candidacy.