The day after nurses and our allies learned that the California State Assembly failed to hold a vote on AB 1400, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act (CalCare), a bill that would establish a single-payer health system for the state, we are disappointed—but not defeated. As nurses, we never give up on our patients, and we will always do everything in our power to protect them. That’s why we have been fighting for decades to ensure health care is a human right for all people, regardless of ability to pay. We won’t stop now.

Being a nurse means constantly assessing our patients’ condition and course correcting again and again—as many times as it takes—to optimize our care plan for people who are counting on us. AB 1400 didn’t make it off the Assembly floor yesterday, and now nurses are regrouping with our allies in this mighty, grassroots movement to optimize our care plan for single payer in California. It’s our intent to have another bill next year. And we will keep moving CalCare forward in the Capitol, in our communities, in our hospitals, in the streets, text by text, postcard by postcard, conversation by conversation—until health care is a right for all people in this state, not just as a privilege for those who can afford it.  Our patients’ lives depend on it, especially during an ongoing, deadly pandemic. So rest assured that nurses and our allies will never stop until it’s done.

The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 175,000 RNs nationwide.