California voters have rejected a requirement for employers to offer healthcare
coverage to employees, according the Sacramento Business Journal.
The vote came on Proposition 72, which asked voters to affirm or reject a healthcare
insurance law approved by the legislature and signed by former Governor Gray
Davis. The law would have required employers with more than 50 employees to
offer healthcare coverage or pay into a state fund for purchasing health insurance.
About 167,000 votes out of more than 9.2 million cast separated those who supported
the healthcare insurance requirement and those rejected it , according to the
Business Journal.
Business groups celebrated voters' rejection of the law, saying a requirement
to offer healthcare coverage would hurt the economy.
"This healthcare scheme would have cost at least $7 billion the first
year alone--and driven jobs out of California because employers would have had
no choice but to shut their doors or move operations out of state because of
this scheme," says California Chamber of Commerce President Allan Zaremberg.
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