Statement on the Governor's Health Care Proposal

Statement by California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski

 

While the Governor's healthcare proposal includes some positive elements, it is the wrong prescription for California's health care crisis. The Governor's plan shifts the responsibility for health care costs onto already overburdened workers and their families.

This proposal will be a boon to insurance companies, but a bust for most workers. This plan requires all Californians to buy health insurance with no guarantee that it will be affordable or that coverage will be adequate. We are concerned that the plan creates an incentive for employers who currently provide health care to drop coverage and instead pay only a minimal tax.

This is a plan that Wal-Mart can love and Wal-Mart workers will hate. The proposed employer contribution is so low that even Wal-Mart, a corporation known for its minimal employee healthcare coverage, already exceeds the requirements.

The Governor says his proposal eliminates the “hidden tax” of the uninsured, but what he's proposed is a new tax on middle class families.

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