Is Newsom resurrecting his single-payer health care pledge?

To those on the left side of the political balance beam, no issue is more important — or more elusive — than having medical care provided directly by a governmental system.

Dubbed “single-payer,” it would eliminate insurers and other aspects of private enterprise from medical care and provide everyone the same services, regardless of income or other characteristics.

Not surprisingly, those who want it were elated when, in 2018, California’s leading Democratic candidate for governor virtually promised to deliver it.

“I’m tired of politicians saying they support single-payer but that it’s too soon, too expensive or someone else’s problem,” Gavin Newsom said.

Newsom’s pledge won him support from single-payer advocates such as the California Nurses Association. It decorated a bus with Newsom’s face and the words, “Nurses Trust Newsom. He shares our values and fights for our patients,” and toured the state.

Once elected, however, Newsom sidled away from his pledge, saying his goal was universal health coverage, not necessarily single-payer.

“I think that the ideal system is a single-payer system,” Newsom said in 2022 when pressed by reporters about his pledge. “I’ve been consistent with that for well over a decade. … The difference here is when you are in a position of responsibility, you’ve gotta apply, you’ve gotta manifest, the ideal. This is hard work. It’s one thing to say, it’s another to do. And with respect, there are many different pathways to achieve the goal.”