Schwartzenegger proposes universal health care in CA
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed Monday extending medical insurance to all Californians, including illegal immigrants, with a far-reaching plan that would transform the health care market by spreading the $12 billion cost of universal coverage among employers, individuals, insurers, government and health care providers. The proposal, which the governor called a model for bringing universal coverage to the nation, would deliver both pain and reward to the many powerful interests in the health care industry, giving the plan an uncertain future before the Legislature. But Schwarzenegger said the problem of covering the state’s million uninsured must be undertaken. “We have more than 6.5 million people without insurance, nearly one-fifth of our population — so the rest of us pay their bills,” the governor said during a news conference in Sacramento through a satellite television link from his office in Los Angeles. Schwarzenegger said his solution is to make sure everyone in the state has health insurance.