(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Health care is a human right and it is in the public interest that all Californians have access to health care that improves health outcomes, manages and lowers health care costs for the state and its residents, and reduces health disparities.
(2) With the implementation of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) and other state efforts, California has reduced the uninsured share of its population to less than 10 percent.
(3) As of 2016, nearly three million Californians remained uninsured, 21 percent of Californians remained underinsured, and 11 percent of California adults went without health care because of cost.
(4) The United States spends more per capita than any other industrialized nation on health care, but has low rankings based on many metrics, including access to care, equity, efficiency, and healthy lives.
(5) California has a primary care physician shortage, and the geographic distribution of physicians across California is uneven.
(6) According to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, national health spending is projected to grow 5.5 percent annually, on average, through 2026, representing 19.7 percent of the economy in 2026.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a health care delivery system that provides coverage and access through a unified financing system for all Californians.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to control health care costs so that California is able to achieve a sustainable health care system with more equitable access to quality health care.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that rising health care costs be mitigated and administrative costs be limited so that more money is spent on direct care to patients and less on profits and overhead.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature that all Californians receive high-quality health care, with positive health care outcomes, regardless of age, income, race, ethnicity, immigration status, gender or gender nonconforming status, sexual orientation, geographic location, health status, or ability.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that all Californians have access to affordable health coverage, including health coverage with reasonable out-of-pocket costs relative to household income, or being eligible for appropriate cost-sharing assistance.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature that California train and employ an adequate number of primary care physicians, specialty care physicians, mental and behavioral health professionals, and allied health care professionals to meet the health care needs of the state.
(h) It is the intent of the Legislature that the health care system ensure that all Californians have timely access to necessary health care, including access that addresses language and geographic barriers.
(Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 34, Sec. 3. (AB 1810) Effective June 27, 2018. Repealed as of January 1, 2022, pursuant to Section 1005.)