Read about Assemblymember Ash Kalra’s Single-Payer Research Tour: HERE
A few weeks ago in late October, California Assemblymember Ash Kalra embarked on what he dubbed a “CalCare Policy Tour” to Canada, New York, and Washington D.C. to gather information and build connections in support of his single-payer health care bill AB 1400, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act, aka CalCare.
The California Nurses Association (CNA)-sponsored bill was introduced earlier this year by Kalra, along with Assemblymembers Alex Lee and Miguel Santiago, and 16 additional coauthors. The statewide single-payer movement is preparing for the bill’s highly anticipated return to the legislature in January.
On his trip, Kalra met with Canadian health administrators and elected officials, NY single-payer activists, the lead author of the NY state single-payer bill, members of Congress, and Biden’s Health and Human Services (HHS) Department. According to Kalra, the tour provided a unique opportunity to discuss and advocate for a single-payer health care system with key leaders and staff and to learn from policy experts on different health care delivery and payment systems.