{"id":618451,"date":"2026-05-02T02:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T02:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/618451\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T02:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T02:38:15","slug":"xavier-becerra-backpedals-on-single-payer-as-he-woos-powerful-doctors-lobby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/618451\/","title":{"rendered":"Xavier Becerra Backpedals on Single Payer as He Woos Powerful Doctors\u2019 Lobby"},"content":{"rendered":"

The trade group for doctors is one of the most influential medical lobbies in California and has long opposed efforts<\/a> to establish a single-payer system in the state, arguing it is not economically feasible and would erode physician autonomy. California lawmakers failed multiple times<\/a> to pass legislation in support of single-payer in recent years. In 2022, legislative analysts estimated the cost of operating such a system could top $391 billion a year<\/a> and said it would require passing new taxes on California residents and businesses.<\/p>\n

The association endorsed Becerra in the crowded race for governor on April 28, as he quickly rose to become a frontrunner in the two weeks after Eric Swalwell dropped out<\/a>. Becerra\u2019s sudden popularity in the polls and scramble to secure additional campaign financing have forced him to clarify the nuances of his policy positions, including single-payer.<\/p>\n

\"\"Matt Mahan, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, from left, Xavier Becerra, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, Chad Bianco, Republican gubernatorial candidate for California, Steve Hilton, Republican gubernatorial candidate for California, Tom Steyer, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, and Katie Porter, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California, during a gubernatorial debate at KRON Studios in San Francisco, California, on April 22, 2026. (Jason Henry\/Nexstar\/Bloomberg)<\/p>\n

Becerra\u2019s campaign website<\/a> links to a video of him testifying before Congress in 1994<\/a> in support of a single-payer plan, proclaiming, \u201chealthcare is a right, not a privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n

On March 23, 2026, the anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Becerra wrote in a social media post<\/a>: \u201cI proudly helped write it, pass it, and defend it in court. Now I\u2019m ready to go further as Governor and deliver single-payer health care for our state.\u201d<\/p>\n

But more recently, his message was significantly subdued.<\/p>\n

\u201cA single payer system is the right goal \u2014 but it\u2019s not possible under this administration, and right now we have a crisis on our hands,\u201d wrote Jonathan Underland, a campaign spokesperson, in a statement to KQED on Thursday. \u201cTrump is slashing Medi-Cal and handing tax breaks to billionaires while millions of Californians risk losing their coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, Bravo relayed that Becerra said as much in his meeting with the medical association, telling the doctors his top focus was how to cope with the funding losses from H.R.1, President Trump\u2019s Big Beautiful Bill that is expected to drain $9.5 billion<\/a> per year from California safety net programs, including Medi-Cal, which provides free health coverage to more than 14 million low-income Californians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The trade group for doctors is one of the most influential medical lobbies in California and has long…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-618451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}