Something For Everyone To… Hate?
Just 72 hours after calling for a new era in politics of post partisanship, Governor Schwarzenegger’s health care reform plan ran smack into the old era of pure partisanship– not necessarily political as much as ideological.
In fact, the only completely positive reactions coming in so far seem to be from legislative Democrats (and that support shouldn’t be dismissed).
The proposal outlined today by the governor– via satellite from Santa Monica, where he stayed to rest his broken leg– is, in a word, huge. In fact, the total price tag is estimated at $12 billion. In case you need some perspective, that’s more than the entire gross domestic product of countries like Jamaica and Iceland.
And while there is much debate about whether it will, or won’t, provide coverage for everyone in California, it is indeed designed to do so. As Peter Harbage of the New America Foundation said today, “this plan ‘one ups’ Massachusetts”– in reference to that state’s recent universal health care initiative.
The headlines of the governor’s plan: mandates on individuals to have some level of health insurance… mandates on employers (with 10+ employees) to either provide health coverage or pay 4% of payroll into a state “pool” system… requirements for insurance companies to earmark 85% of premiums for patient care costs, as well as change eligibility rules that often exclude many people… and new “dividends” (what some are calling “taxes”) to be paid by doctors and hospitals into the state-sponsored insurance coverage pool.
The governor’s team refers to the proposal as “universal” coverage, but lest you be confused, Schwarzenegger was quick to point out that it’s not a government-run program.
A few audio snippets from today’s health care discussion:
* Gov. Schwarzenegger on why the plan is a good deal, not a bad one, for everyone.
