I applaud the efforts of our legislators to move California to a single-payer health care system. The current cost estimate: $400 billion for universal, comprehensive coverage.

According to the Sacramento Bee, there’s roughly $300 to $350 billion already being spent annually between federal and employer contributions, not to mention individual payments, leaving a shortfall of $50 to $100 billion.

The United States currently spends approximately $10,000 per capita on health care, the highest in the world. The single-payer cost of $400 billion works out to $10,000 per capita for California’s 40 million residents.

Studies show that the United States spends 25 cents of every health care dollar on administrative costs, double that of Canada. Single-payer enables administrative efficiency and can help close the funding gap.

My point: This exercise is not insurmountable. It’s highly doable. Health care is a right-of-birth. It’s high time for single payer in California

Christopher M. Saleh

Mountain View

Rent stabilization is alive and well in Mountain View and has budding shoots in Pacifica where more enlightened city councils and voters have seen fit to balance the unbalanced renter/landlord market realities.

Mountain View has passed along a 3.4% increase to the renter community. Not the 10, 20 and greater percentage jumps that have been too common here in Burlingame, San Mateo and elsewhere. No one is trying to put landlords out of business but are indeed wanting to provide some security and stability for the rental community. Let’s hope future city councils can act on the better proposals that come our way in the future in order to have a sane and reasonable housing situation for all our citizens.

Will express buses to/from the East Bay to the Peninsula and creative ideas like the Buena Vista mobile home park buyout in Palo Alto help? Of course, but having a legislative bedrock for all renters for the future is a necessity.

Mike Caggiano

San Mateo

Trumpcare will only help the rich get richer

Trumpcare will make us sick.

The Congressional Budget Office predicts 23 million Americans will lose health insurance under Trumpcare. Millions more will get lower quality care. The middle class, elderly, disabled and the sick all lose. Trump voters lose more than others.

But, the decimation pays for tax cuts for the wealthy.

It’s a case of the elite getting their way over the rest of us, again.

Georgia Platts

San Jose

Saudis fund ISIS and other terrorist organizations

We’ve reached a truly Orwellian state of affairs when Saudi Arabia agrees to buy $110 billion of U.S. weapons and it’s represented in a headline as a “Call for unity against terror” (Page 1A, May 22).

According to the 9/11 commission, Saudi Arabia was the country most implicated in the World Trade Center attacks. A total of 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis. Osama bin Laden was Saudi. Al-Qaeda was spawned in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are the progenitors and funders of ISIS and other terrorist organizations. It is Saudi Arabia, using American weapons, that is carrying out the massacres in Yemen. It was Saudi Arabia that Hillary Clinton named as the world’s leading sponsor of terror. Do I need to go on?

Perhaps The Mercury News headline should have read, “Call for unity to fund terror.” It would have been a much closer description of the truth. It’s amazing the reputation laundering that $110 billion buys today.

Robert Freeman

Palo Alto

Trump failures will eventually have an impact

Leonard Pitts (Opinion, May 25) compares attempts to reason with Donald Trump supporters to pouring water on concrete: nothing sinks in. While hiking I’ve passed by streams filled with rocks polished smooth by flowing water. Think also of ocean beaches, and how that sand came to be.

If Trumpcare passes, some rural hospitals will close due to loss of Medicaid funds. Millions will lose their health insurance. For others, rates will go up exorbitantly. Trump supporters, and/or their loved ones, won’t escape being personally impacted. Also, if Trump continues leaking classified information, public consciousness of risks to national security will grow. Whatever he recently chirped to the Russians, Israel is not pleased. That will register. Give it time.

Drip, drip, drip. Grind, grind, grind. Repeat.

Rodney B. Thorn

San Jose