The Democratic-controlled legislature passed the bill by a 22-17 margin in the Senate and 45-to-31 vote in the Assembly. The bill would extend coverage to about 70% of the state's uninsured and would be funded by a 7.5% payroll tax on employers who don't provide insurance, nearly twice the 4% levy proposed by the governor.
Schwarzenegger, however, wants to expand health-care coverage for 6.7 million uninsured by spreading the $12 billion cost among businesses, hospitals, doctors, insurers and individuals. He said he is going to call lawmakers into a special session to consider a compromise.
“I have always said that I would not sign a health-care bill that puts the vast majority of the financial burden for reform on any one segment of our economy,'' Schwarzenegger said in a statement. The Democrats' bill “unfortunately does that by requiring businesses to pay at least 7.5 percent of their payroll into a state fund or on health-care services for employees.''
State and federal lawmakers are grappling with ways to deal with medical expenses, which health-policy researchers say have been rising about twice as fast as wages. The number of uninsured has been rising since 2001, while the percentage of U.S. residents without coverage increased in every year except 2004.