Gubernatorial Debate — No Healthcare?

California – In the first and most likely only gubernatorial debate of the general election, the issue of healthcare wasn’t brought up nor discussed.

Neither was education, homelessness, or water, with John Cox calling the absence of discussion of these important issues as a “disservice to Californians.”

Gavin Newsom’s campaign often cites his Healthy San Francisco program as an example of his success with single-payer, but does not mention that its significant failings.

John Cox issued the following statement on California’s healthcare crisis:

“I want everyone to have health care, and that includes everyone with a pre-existing condition, and I want it to be affordable, but I have to say I am disgusted by the shameless pandering that is going on by the people in Sacramento.

“Our current system was designed by political insiders, healthcare corporate lobbyists and attorneys to protect their monopoly profits, not to provide decent health care at a reasonable price.  I want to break up the health care corporate monopolies,  make insurance companies compete and turn patients into consumers with power over their health care dollars.

“Gavin says his plan is to do exactly what he did as mayor of San Francisco.  Well, I went back and looked at that plan, and not only did it fail miserably to provide comprehensive health care, but San Franciscans were explicitly told that they needed to keep paying for their own health care policies because Newsom Universal Health Care was nothing more than a glorified first aid kit.  Like George Skelton said in the L.A. Times, it’s like comparing T-ball to the major leagues.

“I think it is irresponsible in the extreme to promise what you can’t deliver, and you cannot deliver on a $400 billion dollar commitment that is twice as large as the entire California state budget. It’s cruel, it’s cynical and you ought to be ashamed of yourself.”