SACRAMENTO, Calif. — There’s no bigger litmus test in the California Democratic Party than where a politician stands on single-payer healthcare.
But the anemic performance and unspectacular demise last week of another bill to launch the model in the Golden State shows that may be all it is.
Bogged down by political tension and unanswered questions about its enormous price tag, legislation to guarantee medical coverage to every resident by levying billions in new taxes died in the Assembly without a floor vote.
