Calif Moves Toward Major Health Reforms

By SAMANTHA YOUNG – 2 days ago

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The state Assembly approved a major health care reform plan Monday that will expand coverage to nearly 70 percent of the state's uninsured and require most Californians to have health insurance.

Lawmakers approved the $14.4 billion plan on a party-line vote of 45-31. If the plan is passed by the Senate, it will go before voters in November 2008 as a ballot question. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger backs the measure.

"Fundamentally, health care is a right and not a privilege, and it ought to be afforded to everybody," Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, a Democrat and the bill's author, told his colleagues before they voted. "Make no mistake about it; this is truly a historic effort."

If approved by the Senate and voters, it would be the largest health care overhaul undertaken by any state. Massachusetts passed a similar mandate in 2006 but has far fewer uninsured residents. The Senate was not expected to take up the bill before next year.

Funding for the health care package relies on fees imposed on hospitals and employers, as well as boosting the tax on cigarettes from 87 cents a pack to as much as $2 a pack.

Of the 5.1 million people who are considered permanently uninsured in California, 3.7 million would be covered under the plan, according to Nunez's office. That includes children from low-income families, employees at small businesses that cannot afford to provide health insurance, and Californians with pre-existing medical conditions who have trouble finding coverage.

Those not offered insurance through their jobs would be required to buy policies through a statewide pool. Individuals could petition the state for an exemption to the insurance mandate if they could show that buying a policy would be a hardship.

Insurance companies would have to provide policies to everyone and could no longer refuse coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

The Assembly leader struck the deal last week with Schwarzenegger, a Republican who made health care reform his top policy priority this year and broke ranks with his party to get it done.

"It is time for the people to stop living in fear of losing their medical coverage, of living in fear that they are literally one hospital stay away from having to file personal bankruptcy," Schwarzenegger said at a news conference after the Assembly vote, surrounded by Democratic lawmakers.

But members of the governor's own party, health insurance companies and business groups criticized the proposal, saying it relies on risky funding sources and penalizes California employers.

Republicans said the state cannot afford a massive health care reform plan as it faces a budget deficit projected at $10 billion to $14 billion over the next two fiscal years.