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Thomas Dworetzky, Contributing Reporter | May 25, 2017
“It will cost employers and taxpayers billions of dollars and result in significant loss of jobs in the state,” the Chamber of Commerce said in its opposition letter.
Appropriations panel State Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama) advised that, “the impact on employers will be astounding,” adding, “how can you say this will be fiscally prudent for the state? The state has never gotten anything right in health care.”
State Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) was equally cautious, suggesting that he didn't “want California to move toward a program that is not sustainable and one that we can’t manage.”
But co-sponsor of SB 562, Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), remained optimistic, telling the Bee that, “this is a high-ticket expense ... We have to figure out how to cover everyone and work on addressing the costs in the long-term – that’s our challenge.”
At present, about 45 percent of Californians are covered by employment-based health insurance. About 26 percent are covered by Medi-Cal, 10 percent by Medicare and 9 percent by the individual market. There are about three million uninsured under age 65 in the state. About 1.8 million of those are undocumented.
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