Proposition 72 is an important referendum which seeks to extend
health insurance coverage to millions of Californians by requiring
large and mid-sized businesses to offer health plans to their
employees.
The state legislature already approved Senate Bill 2, which
includes these provisions, but Proposition 72 is required to make
the bill become law.
SB 2 and Proposition 72 would require all businesses with 200 or
more employees to offer health coverage by 2006. Companies with 20
or more employees might be required to do the same by 2007, but a
tax credit would help ease the costs.
The bill spells out that employers would be responsible for 80
percent of the cost of the coverage, with employees paying 20
percent. (Single individuals making less than $19,000 a year would
only be made to pay 5 percent of the cost).
Proposition 72 will help millions of California workers get
health insurance. Hospitals will have to treat fewer uninsured
patients, and workers and their families will not have to worry
about how to pay for medical emergencies.
Together with Proposition 1A, which would protect local health
funding, Proposition 72 could help ease the badly strained county
hospital systems. It won’t provide coverage to everyone in
California, but it is a worthy first step.