<nobr>Sep 22, 2003</nobr>

California Bill Mandating Employer-Sponsored Health Care Passes Legislature

The California state legislature approved a bill (SB 2) Sept. 13 that would require California employers to either pay fees to a state-run insurance pool or purchase health insurance on their own. Gov. Gray Davis is expected to sign the new “pay or play” health care mandate into law early next month. The bill would make California the first state in three decades to mandate employer health coverage (Hawaii is the only other state to mandate health care) and is reported to cover more than a million uninsured employees.

The bill would require companies with 200 or more employees to buy health insurance for workers and their families or pay into a state insurance pool by 2006. Businesses with 50 to 199 employees would have until 2007 to get individual coverage for workers or pay fees to the state. Companies would pay at least 80 percent of health premiums, while workers would pay no more than 20 percent. Low-income workers would pay only 5 percent of their wages.

Text Files:

California conference report

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