Greetings,

HC4US is busy as we anticipate the introduction of the new CalCare bill in 2026. We have a variety of actions you can take to help CalCare become law, especially our House Parties! 

Read about the new statewide grassroots coalition and our outreach on Labor Day. We also provide an article on poverty in California to remind us how desperately CalCare is needed.

California Nurses Association Personal CalCare Pledge

Extend the Obamacare subsidies to the Affordable Care Act before millions lose coverage!

On September 9th, we hosted a General Meeting on Zoom; presenting real world examples of the horrific cost of medical care and health insurance, why CalCare is the gold standard of single-payer bills and why 2026 is the right time politically and socially for the CalCare bill to pass.

HC4US is excited to announce a new action to grow the single-payer movement. Casual in-home parties build community, educate and activate for CalCare. Different levels of involvement are all appreciated: hosting, funding or supporting a party.

The September California Budget & Policy Center’s Issue Brief outlines the dire living situation of millions of our residents, “California’s poverty rate means that about 7 million state residents lacked the resources to meet basic needs last year — roughly equivalent to the populations of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco combined.”

Black and Latinx Californians experience significantly higher rates of poverty as compared to white Californians. Trump’s Big Brutal Bill and state budget cuts to health care will likely increase poverty in California. 

Stemming poverty is possible if California leaders “raise significant, ongoing revenue, particularly from the corporations and wealthy individuals that are overwhelmingly benefiting from recent massive federal tax cuts.”

CalCare addresses poverty and racial inequality by providing universal coverage. It’s a single public program funded partly by progressive taxation such as higher taxes on corporations and wealthy Californians. California has the 4th largest economy in the world, our elected legislators must vote for CalCare in 2026. 

On September 6th, single payer activists living throughout California convened in Los Angeles for the first CUSP (California United for Single Payer) summit. Mark Norberg, Chair and Cheng-Sim Lim, Vice Chair organized and conducted a highly informative and inspirational daylong conference. HC4US chair, Erika Feresten presented about the history of single-payer campaigns in California. HC4US board members assisted in planning this event.

This working summit was a first step towards building a statewide grassroots coalition to win CalCare. Energy and enthusiasm for CalCare were skyhigh! CUSP will meet virtually to continue work in preparation for the legislative introduction of CalCare in 2026.  

We had fun at the 46th Annual Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Labor Coalition Rally on Labor Day in Wilmington. This is a huge event and lots of folks from unions and the community stopped by our booth to learn about CalCare. In Capital & Main, Mark Kreidler writes that despite union membership decreasing nationally, California’s union membership is above the national average.

ORGANIZE. AGITATE. EDUCATE. LEGISLATE.

THANK YOU!