The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Tuesday he will veto a universal health care bill that is headed for his desk, saying the measure would set up a “vast new bureaucracy” that would be too expensive.
The Republican governor said the single-payer system proposed by Sen. Sheila Kuehl would “cost the state billions and lead to significant new taxes on individuals and businesses, without solving the critical issue of affordability.
“I won’t jeopardize the economy of our state for such a purpose,” the governor said in a statement.
Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, said Schwarzenegger’s comments indicated he “has not read the bill, doesn’t understand the bill or is being completely misdirected by his handlers.”
“Where there are no cost controls at all now, and enormous administrative overhead and profit for insurance companies, there would have been a transparent system that actually would succeed in making health care coverage affordable in California,” she said in a statement issued Tuesday.
The bill would provide every California resident with health insurance through a system controlled by a new entity called the California Health Insurance Agency. The legislation also would establish a commission to recommend to the governor and Legislature how much to charge patients and businesses in premiums to help pay for the system.
The bill was approved by lawmakers last week but has not reached Schwarzenegger yet, aides said Tuesday.
Schwarzenegger is up for re-election this fall. His Democratic opponent, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, did not take a formal position on the measure. However, he has said that if he were elected governor, he would work with Kuehl to move toward universal coverage.