Newspapers Examine Health Care Reform Efforts In California

With its potential to set a nationwide model, health policy experts Health And Beauty, states and federal lawmakers are closely watching California's health reform efforts, USA Today reports. According to USA Today, proposals in California could launch an even bolder experiment than in Massachusetts because California's problems are so much larger. For example Health And Beauty, there are 4.9 million uninsured California residents, compared with 500,000 uninsured Massachusetts residents before the state implemented its health insurance law, according to USA Today Health And Beauty.

However,Health And Beauty the prognosis for universal health care in California is grim this year, as unions, physicians and other powerful interests are arrayed against Gov Health And Beauty. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) $12 billion-a-year plan to make health insurance mandatory, AP/Long Island Newsday reports Health And Beauty. Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger has said he would veto state Democrats' health reform legislation and instead place his measure on the statewide ballot.

Health And Beauty Schwarzenegger at a recent health care debate said, At the end, we will sit down and negotiate.Health And Beauty If everyone has the will.Spyros Andreopoulos: Initially, Schwarzenegger's mandatory insurance proposal seems to offer a starting point for fashioning a feasible plan for the short term to fix California's health care crisis, but it now appears doubtful that states can effect health care reform Health And Beauty, Andreopoulos, director emeritus of the Office of Communication and Public Affairs at Stanford University Medical Center, writes in a Chronicle opinion piece.