With a state Senate vote possibly imminent on a single-payer health system for California, supporters Wednesday released a study estimating it would cut spending on healthcare in the state by 18% and cost tens of billions of dollars less than the state's estimate for the plan.

SB 562, the Healthy California Act, would cut current spending on healthcare in California by 18 percent – and produce substantial savings for households in healthcare costs as a share of their income, and California businesses, which would also see reduced payroll costs for health care expenditures, according to new research findings released today.

A full 70 percent of Californians favor establishing a public, Medicare for all type system providing universal single-payer health coverage, with lower costs for all Californians, as proposed in the Healthy California Act, SB 562.

Registered Nurses strongly oppose the recently announced closure of Calais Regional Hospital (CRH)’s Obstetrics department—a move which nurses say will leave patients without labor and delivery services in Calais and surrounding communities, Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (MSNA/NNOC/NNU) announced today.

SB 562, the Healthy California Act, took another step forward in the California legislature Monday moving from the state Senate Appropriations Committee and appears headed to a full vote on the Senate floor by early June. First the bill will be held.