CalCare (universal healthcare) is reintroduced in the California Assembly!

Dr. Butch Ware 

by Barry Hermanson

For the third time in the last five years, Assemblyman Ash Kalra, with the sponsorship of the California Nurses Association (CNA), introduced the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act (CalCare), Assembly Bill (AB) 1900. 

Republicans in Congress recently passed massive federal funding cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). How will the Democratic Party respond? Will restoring and providing better healthcare be a major campaign theme in the mid-term Congressional elections this year? Will AB 1900 receive serious consideration in Sacramento or be swept aside because of opposition from the for-profit health care industry and their lobbyists? 

A good friend and fellow political activist recently told me that he didn’t think AB 1900 would get out of committee. I hope he is wrong but admit that he is probably right. There was no mention of the need to establish universal healthcare at the California Democratic Party Convention that was held in San Francisco at the end of February.

Last year, when I heard that CalCare would be reintroduced in 2026, I sent an email to organizers at CNA who were preparing for the campaign. I asked if there had been any change in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s opposition to CalCare. I never heard back. He is widely considered to be running for president in 2028. Removing profit, reducing costs and dramatically improving health care in America doesn’t appear to be one of his campaign issues.

CNA commissioned a new poll and found that 86% of Democratic Party voters support a proposal for a single-payer health care system in California. Half of all voters and 76% of Democrats would be more likely to support a candidate for governor if they were to run on creating a single-payer system. Powerful stuff. 

It seems like universal health care would be a winning issue that candidates would readily embrace. But, if you look at the websites of the major candidates for California governor, it is difficult to find much, if any, advocacy for universal health care. Remember the strong support Gavin Newsom expressed when he was first running for governor? He stood in front of CNA members seeking their endorsement and said it was a no-brainer to pass and implement universal health care.

The only candidate for governor of California who has made implementing universal health care a central issue in his campaign is Green Party candidate Dr. Butch Ware. I am disappointed to learn that CNA has endorsed Tom Steyer. On his website, there is no mention of universal health care or of CalCare (AB 1900). He may have told you he is a supporter, but he is not campaigning on the issue.

In the press release announcing the introduction of AB 1900, CNA states:

“This legislation will ensure that all Californians, regardless of employment, income, immigration status, race, gender, or any other considerations, can get the health care they need, free at the point of service. CalCare also includes long-term services and supports for people with disabilities and the elderly, a health care cost control system, and ways to address health care disparities.” 

The organization, National Single Payer recently hosted a webinar entitled: “At the Crossroads: The Crisis of the ACA.”

“The enhanced subsidies (now history) contributed to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Medicaid cuts threaten to kick millions off insurance and shutter over 300 rural hospitals, affecting the lives of millions more. A majority of Americans believe that national single payer, improved Medicare for all, free from profit is the only solution to our nation’s health care crisis. How do we organize the movement required at this moment?”

Because no Democratic Party candidate for governor is making CalCare a signature issue, I believe the California Nurses Association has a choice.  

1. You can watch AB 1900 die in committee once again because so many of our legislators and particularly our governor take money from the for-profit healthcare industry and their lobbyists. If it dies, the need for universal healthcare will become a non-issue for the remaining two candidates after the June primary election. Or,

2. CNA can tell voters about a candidate for governor who can not be influenced by the for-profit healthcare industry and their lobbyists. That’s Dr. Ware, who openly supports AB 1900. It is a major issue in his campaign. Some of the other candidates may express support for universal healthcare but rarely mention it on the campaign trail.

If Dr. Butch Ware is able to finish in the Top Two on the June primary election ballot, he will be one of only two candidates for governor on the general election ballot, and the need for universal health care and the major changes required to achieve it will be debated all the way to the November election. 

Barry Hermanson is a member of the San Francisco Green Party County Council. Before he retired, he owned and operated a small business and was a leader in the small business community in San Francisco.

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Source: https://sfbayview.com/2026/03/calcare-universal-healthcare-is-reintroduced-in-the-california-assembly/