"I'm as determined as ever," Schwarzenegger said. "The issue is not going to go away." He called the bill a golden opportunity for California to serve as a blueprint for the nation in how to enact universal health care.
The bill had been closely watched across the United States because of California's size -- it is the largest state in the U.S. -- and the rising anxiety among Americans about the spiralling cost and lack of availability of affordable health care.
According to the National Coalition on Health Care, almost 47 million Americans, about 16 percent of the nation’s population, were without health insurance in 2005. Spiraling costs and the growing lack of affordable health care are among U.S., consumers’ most pressing concerns, a fact that has made health care reform a prominent issue in the campaign for the presidency.