Employers
to insure thousands of workers
By
Michelle Zenarosa
On-line Forty-Niner
With
approximately 6.3 million Californians currently
uninsured, a new healthcare bill aiming
to protect and insure thousands of working
citizens, was passed by the Legislature
last Wednesday and is now awaiting the governor's
signature.
Bill
SB2, which will cut into the already poor
$29 billion workers' compensation system,
will require employers that have 50 or more
workers to either purchase private healthcare
for their workers or pay a fee into a statewide
insurance pool that would allow the state
to pay for coverage under the employers'
behalf, officials said.
This
bill, along with making California the first
state to require employers to pay for healthcare
coverage and spell out the coverage presented,
would mandate employers to pay at least
80 percent of the workers' healthcare and
the worker to pay no more than 20 percent.
If
signed, employers with 50 to 199 workers
will have until 2007 to provide coverage
for their workers, while employers with
200 or more workers will have until Jan.
1, 2006. Employers with 20 or less workers
would be excused from providing coverage,
leaving employers with 20 to 49 workers
to be held exempt until the state created
an agreeable legislation for those workers.
"It's
going to affect the business community and
students who are working the most,"
said Renee Twigg, director of the Student
Health Center. "There are some people
that can't even afford the 20 percent. So
even if I gave you the 80 percent of the
premium, could you afford the $200 a month,
20 percent premium?"
Currently,
Cal State Long Beach students pay a $35
a year fee with their tuition to Health
Services and get most of the services free
or at a low cost. Many students who are
under their parents' insurance coverage
have until age 25 to receive healthcare
coverage but after that, it is their responsibility.
Students
are experiencing the same problem as many
Californians, especially younger and low-income
citizens, of having a tough time trying
to get adequate healthcare.
"I
don't know if I necessarily agree with it
or not because it seems to try to mask a
problem instead of taking care of the greater
problem, which is that so many Californians
can't afford healthcare, myself and my father
included, who just had a really bad injury
and owes the hospital $17,000 that he doesn't
have," said Julie Rindone, a senior
women's studies major.
According
to a study conducted by the California Chamber
of Commerce, SB2 will cost employers $4.1
billion.
"Will
these companies have to go out of state
to do business because the can't afford
all these premiums?" Twigg asked.
"From
an economic standpoint, I think it's a bad
idea because these companies are going to
have to pay all this money to pay for coverage
for their employees and if they can't make
that money, they are going to have to high*er
their prices, which affects the consumers,"
said Courtney Stoner, a junior and Social
Science major. "They're not looking
at what it's going to cost us in the long
run because companies are going to need
to make more money and they're going to
get the money from us. It's just going to
be a big circle. We're never going to get
out of debt."
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