EDITORIAL: Reality again intrudes on California single-payer plan

Mr. Reality, previously seen in a 2015 “South Park” episode, crashed the party in Sacramento this week to the horror of California progressives intent on pushing a government takeover of health care. And this time, he survived.

The mustachioed cartoon villain made his debut for “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone in an episode lampooning political correctness. After the dastardly Mr. Reality dares point out that “the world isn’t one big liberal arts” campus, he is taken to the town square and hanged while local residents cheer his demise, eager to wallow in their delusions.

On Monday, Mr. Reality burst in on efforts by California’s legislative Democrats to impose a single-payer health care regime on state taxpayers. The proposal would have required billions in tax increases — many of which had yet to be identified — and was supposed to cost up to $400 billion a year, almost certainly a lowball figure. Even those in the country illegally would have qualified for “free” care.

Supporters claimed the scheme was an ultimate money-saver because it dismantled the private insurance market, eliminating premiums and deductibles. Anybody who believes that fantasy should steer clear of emails mentioning a Nigerian prince.

Yet when the proposal, Assembly Bill 1400, came up for consideration in the lower chamber this week — where Democrats dominate 60-19 — it didn’t have the necessary votes to advance. The bill’s sponsor, Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, let the measure die. Reality prevailed, even in the dark blue Golden State.

“AB 1400 was a disaster in the making,” said Jim Wunderman, president and chief executive of the Bay Area Council, a business group. “It was unworkable and would have cost California taxpayers and businesses hundreds of billions in new taxes, with little or no hope that it would ever produce any results.”

Add this failure to the list of other single-payer dreams that have fallen victim in recent years to Mr. Reality. A previous California plan was put out of its misery five years ago over sustainability and financial concerns. Vermont deep-sixed its effort at government-run health care when it became clear that costs would necessitate tax hikes far beyond what residents would abide. Nearly 80 percent of Colorado voters rejected single-payer in a 2017 referendum.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Kalra vows not “to give up” and to continue pursuing single-payer legislation. Like the townsfolk in that fictional Colorado village, he and many of his like-minded colleagues would rather be soothed by their ideological fantasies than bothered with the potential discomforts of harsh reality.