Turns out there's a problem with relying on market-driven competition to control the cost of health care: It doesn't work! To fix unaffordably high deductibles and co-pays in the Obamacare health insurance Exchanges (premiums could be lower too), some suggest more market forces (e.g., New England Journal:The ACA and High-Deductible Insurance — Strategies for Sharpening a Blunt Instrument). Better idea: California is perfectly poised to leverage the situation by taking the obvious next step towards a single payer system (a goal for 2017): authorize the elected Insurance Commissioner to set the prices of the health insurance plans. The Exchanges have already whittled down the insurance plans to a few left standing, and the law has set compulsory enrollment, and standardized benefits. Setting a public authority to chop insurance co. rates and profits gets pretty close to the role health insurance plans already now play in Medicare, as third party administrators. The legislation's been introduced and almost passed several times. (It works, and no alliances needed with the reactionary Repeal brigade.)