Sacramento – Assembly Member Anna Caballero today joined with 45 other Democratic legislators in voting to pass historic legislation that would ensure health coverage for approximately 36 million of California’s 37 million people, including all children in the state.

“Over the past year I’ve had dozens of meetings in my district with people who are concerned about the health care crisis,“ said Caballero, speaking in support of the bill on the floor of the Assembly.  “Farm workers who put food on our table.  Service workers who clean the rooms and cook for Californians that visit our beautiful Monterey Peninsula.

“These are hardworking families – people are crying out for action on this issue.” 

AB 1X 1 (Núñez) is the result of months of give-and-take discussions between Assembly legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The governor strongly supports the bill, which will bring health care coverage to 70% of California’s 5.1 million uninsured, most of whom are low-income working individuals and their families, including 800,000 children.  The bill does this by expanding public coverage from the Healthy Families and MediCal programs for low income individuals and families and establishing a statewide purchasing pool to achieve low-cost coverage for these individuals.  All employers would be required to “pay or play”:  either provide health coverage for their employees, or pay into a statewide fund on a sliding scale, keyed to the amount of total wages they pay.   

The bill includes a mandate for individuals to purchase insurance if they are self-employed, don’t have health coverage through their employers, or who, by virtue of their higher incomes, are not eligible for the purchasing pool. 

The bill also includes a number of provisions to make insurance more affordable for all Californians, regardless of whether they are purchasing coverage through the purchasing pool or under the individual mandate.  It contains significant reforms of the private insurance market, requiring health plans to accept all applicants for coverage regardless of their health status or claims history.  Cost containment measures are also identified.

The bill’s costs are pegged at $14 billion, to be paid in part with new fees on hospitals and new cigarette taxes, subject to voter approval the November 2008 General Election.  Both legislative analysis and the State Department of Finance estimate that the bill will not impact the state general fund. 

“This is without question a complicated measure,” said Caballero.  “But by bringing most of the uninsured into the healthcare system, we’re tackling one of the biggest costs in the healthcare system – people who don’t have coverage and end up in county hospitals.  We all pay for this, through higher insurance premiums.”

Caballero also likes the emphasis the bill places on disease prevention programs targeting obesity, diabetes and smoking cessation.  “Programs that help people change these behaviors will save more millions of dollars,” she said.

She added:  “I’ve looked at the faces of people in my district, who’ve asked for leadership.  They want help.  They want change.  This bill is for them, and all of us.”

The bill now moves to the state Senate.  Further action is not expected until after January 1.