With national health reform in peril, California has taken matters into its own hands. Its Democratic-led Senate last Thursday approved the creation of a single-payer insurance system. Authored by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), the bill passed in a largely party-line vote of 22-14. The legislation would replace private health insurance in the state with a Medicare-type program that covers all residents. Leno told Raw Story in an interview that ‘it really doesn’t matter’ if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger follows through with his veto threat because Californians will place the measure on the ballot. ‘In California, the voters get the final say,’ Leno said, suggesting the ballot initiative ‘could be as early as 2012, if not 2014.’ He said that even if Schwarzenegger signs the legislation into law, insurance companies would probably fight to overturn it in a ballot measure opposing single-payer. The state senator said he ‘[chooses] to remain confident’ it will succeed but refused to be complacent, admitting that taking on the insurance industry will be a huge challenge. He said proponents of the program must educate voters to protect them from disinformation. ‘Single payer is not socialized medicine,’ Leno explained. ‘We simply […]