California Shoots Down Gov's Health Care Reform Plan

A California Senate committee shot down Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's health care reform plan by a 7-1 vote this afternoon, thus sinking a long-shot effort to adopt universal health insurance coverage in one state. The plan relied on an individual mandate to purchase insurance as a supplement to a tax on employers who didn't provide plans. But the estimated cost of the program -- $14.5 billion -- was about equal to the projected state budget deficit, according to this AP story. Massive new spending on health care scared even the staunchest supporters of universal coverage off the bill.

As this economic downturn deepens, reformers pushing health insurance reform are going to have to elevate cost control on their agenda if they're serious about insuring the uninsured. The California legislature is probably the most liberal in the nation. Yet even they couldn't swallow a reform plan that relied on higher taxes and individual mandates.