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After the swift rise and sudden crash of California’s ambitious single-payer legislation, complete with melodramatic fallout, universal health care is back — not on the floor, but on the table. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-South Gate — who in June famously blocked Senate Bill 562 from advancing in his chamber, calling the proposal “woefully incomplete” — announced on Thursday that a special committee would hold hearings on universal health care this fall, after the legislative session ends on Sept. 15. (Murphy, 8/24)

Rendon has been under fire from the California Nurses Association and supporters of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders for refusing to bring Senate Bill 562 to the Assembly floor earlier this year. The bill, by state Sens. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, and Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, sought to reorganize California’s health care financing under a government-run system operated by the state. Known as single-payer health care, the approach would eliminate the need for insurance companies. There would be no copays, deductibles or other out-of-pocket costs. (Hart, 8/24)

"I have called for these hearings to determine what approach best gets us there — what gets us to ‘yes’ when it comes to health care for all,” Rendon said in Thursday's statement. No dates have been set, but the hearings will be held after Sept. 15, the last day for bills to be passed and the beginning of California's legislative interim. (Colliver, 8/24)