‘Play or pay’ health care measure approved by Assembly

The California State Assembly has approved omnibus health care reform legislation by a 46–31 vote. The measure, AB 1x1, would require all California residents to purchase health coverage by July 2010, compel individual health insurers to accept all applicants regardless of pre-existing medical conditions and impose a “play or pay” mandate on employers to provide health care coverage to their workers or pay into a state-run purchasing pool to subsidize coverage for low-income earners ...