Raise taxes or ration health care? Why single-payer won't work in California. Yet
Betty Doumas-Toto's health insurance premium rose nearly 48 percent in January, to $800 per month for an Affordable Care Act plan. She and her husband are both Los Angeles freelancers in the film industry and are draining their savings trying to keep up with their monthly payments.
A Pomona mother of five named Claudia, who is undocumented, can't get health insurance because of her immigration status. She's losing her hearing, but can't afford tests a doctor ordered because the costs are too high.
At an elder care home in the Sacramento suburbs, small business owners Harue Seki and her father Nori Seki say their 13 employees largely use Medi-Cal and rely on the emergency room when they get sick.
"We'd really like to be able to offer them health care ... but we can't afford it, Harue Seki said. "It makes it very difficult to compete as a small business owner."