{"article":{"id":191532,"heading":"Golden State Gamble: PAUL KRUGMAN","author":"PAUL KRUGMAN","created":"2007-01-14 15:11:30","modified":"2013-11-11 00:46:50","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 07:46:50","article":"

OP-ED COLUMNIST

Golden State Gamble

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: January 12, 2007

A few days ago. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled an ambitious plan to bring universal health insurance to California. And I’m of two minds about it.

On one side, it’s very encouraging to see another Republican governor endorse the principle that all Americans are entitled to essential health care. Not long ago we were wondering whether the Bush administration would succeed in dismantling Social Security. Now we’re discussing proposals for universal health care. What a difference two years makes!

And if California — America’s biggest state, with a higher-than-average percentage of uninsured residents — can achieve universal coverage, so can the nation as a whole.

On the other side, Mr. Schwarzenegger’s plan has serious flaws. Maybe those flaws could be fixed once the principle of universal coverage was established — but there’s also the chance that we would end up stuck with those flaws, the way we ended up stuck with a dysfunctional system of insurance tied to employment.

Furthermore, in the end health care should be a federal responsibility. State-level plans should be seen as pilot projects, not substitutes for a national system. Otherwise, some states just won’t do the right thing. Remember, almost 25 percent of Texans are uninsured.

To understand both what’s right and what’s wrong with Mr. Schwarzenegger’s plan, let’s compare what he’s proposing with the plan he rejected.

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Labels: Health Care, News, PAUL KRUGMAN, Politics, The New York Times

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