Democrats assail health care plan
Mike Zapler
San Jose Mercury-News
With Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's health care proposal stalled in negotiations and hopes of a breakthrough dimming, Democrats grilled a top administration aide for nearly two hours Wednesday, claiming the governor's reforms would sock middle-class families with insurance costs they can't afford.
Democrats tried to use the legislative hearing to expose what they called flaws in the governor's plan and extract concessions on key sticking points. But time is running short, and it's far from clear that Schwarzenegger can meet the Democrats' demands without alienating the fragile coalition of business and insurance interests he has enlisted as supporters. [...]
The cornerstone of the governor's plan is a requirement that all Californians obtain insurance. To help lower-income families afford it, free or subsidized coverage would be provided to people earning up to 350 percent of the federal poverty level, or slightly above $72,000 for a family of four.
Kimberly Belshe, the governor's health and human services secretary, spent hours parrying criticism that the plan would force hundreds of thousands of middle-class families to buy coverage that's not affordable. "How is this not going to cost middle-class families 20 or 30 percent of their take-home pay?" Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, asked.
November 1, 2007 at 01:35 AM | Permalink | Blog Reactions
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