California Governor Signs Universal Health Bill

The bill would not affect employers with fewer than 20 employees, and it would not limit the cost of health coverage or medical services.

The California Medical Association, Sacramento, Calif., helped write the bill, and a variety of consumer groups and labor groups support it. Some California employers argue that letting big employers get away with not providing health benefits hurts competitors that do provide benefits.

But most California employer groups, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Health Insurance Association of America, Washington, and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors-California, Sacramento, oppose the bill and say it will cost state employers and workers billions of dollars a year in extra premium costs, lost jobs and wage cuts.

The opponents are hoping they will be able to block the bill by organizing a referendum against the bill and filing suits based on the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a law that prohibits states from regulating employee benefits.