SACRAMENTO — Healthcare for millions of uninsured Californians looms as a top concern for the state's employers as Sacramento gears up for another session of the Legislature.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said this month that cutting healthcare costs and providing better care for the uninsured were top priorities for 2007. And lawmakers are floating ideas as well.
"We've got six major issues, and healthcare is No. 1," said Scott Hauge, president of Small Business California, a nonpartisan advocacy group based in San Francisco.
Michael Shaw, assistant state director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said, "The No. 1 issue we are dealing with is healthcare reform. The governor stated he wants to make it a priority, and we're expecting significant action."
Business groups say they are wary and wonder whether employers would be asked to cover much of the cost.
In particular, they ask, who is going to pay the upward of $9-billion bill to guarantee care for the 1 out of every 6 adults and children in California who lacks health coverage?
Small-business owners, who say they can't afford to offer health insurance, gripe that they could be forced out of business if hit with an expensive mandate.
Large corporations, which are providing increasingly costly health benefits, contend that they shouldn't ante up even more in subsidies. And unions adamantly oppose raising employee co-payments and deductibles.
But Bill Dombrowski, president and chief executive of the California Retailers Assn., said that "everybody has got to step up to the plate" if California wants to expand healthcare.
"Employers recognize that they are going to have to play a role," Dombrowski said. "But there's still a question about what the individuals and the healthcare systems will contribute."
Healthcare isn't the only issue for California businesses when the Legislature gets down to business in January. Large companies, particularly heavy energy users such as refineries and manufacturers, have other concerns.
They're planning to keep a close eye on how the Schwarzenegger administration will implement a landmark new law to lower the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.
Organized labor, meanwhile, wants to make adjustments to another signature Schwarzenegger law, the 2004 overhaul of California's workers' compensation insurance system.
