Calif. Gov. Vetoes Universal Health Bill

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a universal health care bill Friday, saying it would create a "vast new bureaucracy."

The bill would have provided every California resident with health insurance through a program administered by a new entity, the California Health Insurance Agency.

The system would have been partially financed by the state's current spending on health care and partly by consumers and their employers in place of private insurance payments. A state commission would have made recommendations on premiums for patients and businesses.

Schwarzenegger said the bill would create "a vast new bureaucracy to take over health insurance and medical care for Californians _ a serious and expensive mistake."

In an unusually long veto message, the Republican governor touted his efforts to expand two other government health care programs that serve the poor. He said he wanted to see something that addresses affordability, shared responsibility and the promotion of healthy living.

The bill's author, Sen. Sheila Kuehl, a Democrat, said the bill would do what the governor said he wanted while saving health care consumers and doctors money. She suggested his real agenda was to leave health care in the hands of private insurance companies.