What the health care plans mean for working Californians

Lost in the shuffle of the discussion about the rival health care plans is what it would mean for workers. Where are the greatest differences felt? Most people who are already working and middle to upper income earners would not notice much of a difference. However, the same cannot be said for those just above the poverty line. The Merc went through a few hypotheticals today:

Employed, but underpaid and uninsured: Consider a waiter making $27,000 who is uninsured, either by choice or because his employer doesn't provide insurance. If the governor has his way, that person could find himself having to buy insurance - everyone would have to carry insurance under Schwarzenegger's plan - without a government subsidy. (Only people making less than $25,525 would qualify for government help under his plan, a threshold Democrats say is too low.)

The Democratic health plan would put that person in a better spot: Either his employer would have to start offering insurance, or he could buy benefits through a state pool, paying no more than $1,350 a year out of pocket.

This goes to the heart of the discussion of affordability. Workers like the above under the Schwarzenegger plan are left high and dry, forced to purchase a plan that could cause them to spend an unreasonable amount of their income to cover the deductibles. They are extraordinarily vulnerable, and for many of them the coverage they are required to buy under Arnold's plan does not make fiscal sense.