The Guaranteed Health Care for All Act is one of the most ill-conceived and unnecessary proposals coming out of the capital in recent years, according NFIB’s state director.
“It’s one more classic example of exactly how out of touch Sacramento politicians are with the struggles their own constituents are grappling with during this horrible pandemic,” said John Kabateck, California state director with the NFIB.
The state Assembly Health Committee approved the proposal 11-3, which could usher in single-payer health care. However, Kabateck also foresees it heaping new taxes on small businesses and the middle class at a time when state coffers are flush with cash.
“It imposes an excise tax on small businesses when they can least afford it, an income tax on already struggling working families, and a gross receipts tax that will affect everybody, everywhere,” Kabateck said. “It also eliminates the healthcare system and free choice as we know it and forces everyone into a new and costly bureaucracy.”
The independent Legislative Analyst's Office estimates a $31 billion surplus, according to media reports.
"If this issue is so important to our policy makers, why do they continue to return to the trough of California small businesses," Kabateck said. "We don't see this going anywhere. This is just another political stunt by policy makers to grab headlines with flashy buzzwords. The legislature has rejected it before."
Assembly Bill 1400 is now pending with the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
“It is absolutely unnecessary,” Kabateck added. “It is a solution in search of a problem because 94% of Californians currently have health coverage, which is a record high, either through private insurance or Covered California, which is our state exchange.”
NFIB data shows that for the past 30 consecutive years, the number one worry of their small business owner members is soaring healthcare costs and out of the 60% of small employers who do not offer health insurance, 52% cite cost as the reason.
If Assembly Bill 1400 moves forward, Kabateck predicts it will be the final nail in the coffin for some business owners.
“So many of them are already on life support as it is,” he said. “Small businesses are already facing record inflation, supply chain disruption, and retail theft that is decimating their business, not to mention scores of other rules and regulations.”