LOS ANGELES (January 22, 2020) – The California Endowment today announced that its President & CEO Robert K. Ross, MD, has been appointed to the Healthy California for All Commission. The purpose of the Healthy California for All Commission is to provide the Governor and the Legislature with options and recommendations to advance progress toward achieving a health care delivery system in California that provides coverage and access through a unified financing system, including, but not limited to, a single-payer financing system, for all Californians.

Senate Bill 104, approved by the Governor on July 9, 2019, established the Healthy California for All Commission to develop a plan that includes options for advancing progress toward achieving a health care delivery system in California that provides coverage and access through a unified financing system, including, but not limited to, a single-payer financing system, for all Californians. The bill envisions the Commission’s work being completed by January 1, 2022.

SB 104 requires the Commission, by July 1, 2020, to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature with, among other things, an analysis of California’s existing health care delivery system and options to transition to a unified financing system, including a single-payer financing system. The bill also requires the Commission, by February 1, 2021, to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature that includes options for key design considerations for a unified financing system, including a single-payer financing system. SB 104 also requires those reports to be posted on the California Health and Human Services Agency’s internet website.

Members of the Commission serve in an important advisory role to the Governor and the Legislature. Commission members have been selected for their expertise and will provide valuable input into policy options, help to raise issues and explore implications in order to assist policy makers in making informed decisions. Commissioners will take advisory votes on potential recommendations to include in the Commission’s reports, which will be recorded in the minutes along with major points of discussion. The Commission and Commission members do not have decision-making authority for the State.

The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation, was established in 1996 to expand access to, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental affordable improvements in the health status of all Californians. The Endowment challenges the conventional wisdom that medical settings and individual choices are solely responsible for people’s health. At its core, The Endowment believes that health happens in neighborhoods, schools, and with prevention.