Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigned for Senator McCain in this election. But he has something in common with the president-elect, Democrat Barack Obama: health care reform plans. Kelley Weiss reports.
Barack Obama says fixing America's broken health care system is one of his top priorities. Californians have heard the same resolve from Governor Schwarzenegger. Larry Levitt is with the non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation.
Levitt: "President-elect Obama's plan for health care is very similar to what was proposed here in California by the governor and came very close to passing."
Levitt says like Schwarzenegger's failed health reform plan from last year, Obama wants to create near-universal health care. He says Obama has advocated for the expansion of employer-based health insurance that calls for businesses to offer all employees health insurance or pay a fee. And Levitt says,
Obama, like the governor, wants the insurance industry to offer everyone coverage regardless of health status and to make policies more affordable. But Levitt says a growing challenge for state and national leaders will be figuring out how to pay for health care reform while dealing with serious budget deficits.
In Sacramento, I'm Kelley Weiss.
