Fact check: Does Sacramento Senate candidate want to take away Medicare in California?

California interest groups are using the last days of the November election to seize on voters’ concerns about healthcare costs with misleading ads claiming that a Sacramento state Senate candidate wants to take away Medicare.

Political action committees backing moderate Democrats and business interests have spent more than $1.6 million on mailers and digital ads opposing former insurance commissioner Dave Jones. Many of them claim he wants to eliminate the 57-year-old national health insurance plan for California seniors 65 and older.

Jones is in a fierce Senate District 8 race against Sacramento City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby.

At least three PACs have sponsored independent expenditure ads with claims about Jones and Medicare. Campaigns have no control over ads funded by independent expenditures, and candidates cannot communicate with PACs about their support or opposition.

Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy, a PAC that supports moderate Democrats, spent more than $500,000 on anti-Jones mailers and digital ads during October, according to campaign finance data from the Secretary of State’s Office.

The California Correctional Peace Officers Association spent more than $90,000 during the same month to support Ashby and oppose Jones. Fighting for our Future — which is funded by a conglomerate of real estate and business interests — has spent more than $650,000 in October and November to oppose Jones, much of which has gone to mailers.

Claim: Mailers and digital ads say Jones wants to “take away Medicare” from seniors. A dramatic video ad even shows a burning Medicare card.

Rating: Mostly false

Details: The ads base most of their claims on a May interview The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board conducted with Jones and Ashby. The board asked the candidates whether they support a “single-payer” healthcare system, which would effectively replace existing public and private insurance with a California-run program that would pay for all residents’ medical expenses.

Instead of multiple insurance companies and programs funding healthcare, the state would be the single payment source for all bills.

Jones said he backed Assembly Bill 1400, a 2021 measure from Assemblyman Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, that would have created a single-payer program called CalCare. Kalra pulled the bill in late January, citing a lack of support.

“I supported AB 1400,” Jones said. “I think we do need to move to a universal healthcare system. I was disappointed that the bill was not taken up for a vote. I do think that this is a reform that we need.”

Ashby said she voted in favor of a City Council resolution to “support dialogue” around single-payer healthcare. But she didn’t give the program her full backing.

“To be honest, I do have concerns about it,” Ashby said. “I worry about where the money will come from and whether it’ll hurt schools or our wildfire efforts. I do think the federal government really needs to be involved. So I have a lot of questions and concerns from the outside in.”

The anti-Jones mailers say the single-payer plan would “force seniors off Medicare and take away choice when employer provided healthcare is no longer an option.” They also say it would “cost the state of California $400 billion” and “require the biggest tax increase in state history.”

The video ad with the burning Medicare card says the single-payer plan would “cost you more than $12,000 a year in new taxes while forcing you to give up your doctor, your private insurance ... and Medicare.”

For the CalCare plan to work, California would need to negotiate with the federal government to send Medicare dollars to the state. This would allow California to enroll seniors on Medicare in the new state-run healthcare system.

Seniors would not lose their healthcare coverage. They would simply shift to a state-run program, rather than a federally-run one.

And CalCare may actually cover more services than some Medicare plans. Under AB 1400, California would pay for medical, dental, vision, behavioral health and long-term care without deductibles or co-pays, the Bee reported.

An Assembly analysis said a 2017 single-payer bill from then-Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, would have cost the state $400 billion per year. But state, federal and local funding could provide about $200 billion of that money, the analysis said.

Kalra’s plan would have levied a new annual tax on businesses with $2 million or more in annual revenue, increased payroll taxes for employers with 50 or more workers, added a tax on employers who pay workers at least $49,900 and raised taxes for residents earning at least $149,509 per year, the analysis said.

The $12,000 tax hike claim seems to come from a Tax Foundation analysis that estimated the single-payer program would increase taxes by $12,250 per household.

However, Californians already pay nearly that much every year for healthcare. Golden State residents spent $10,086 per capita on medical expenses in 2018, according a report from the Healthy California for All Commission.

This story was originally published November 4, 2022 at 5:30 AM.