EDITORIAL HEALTH CARE CURE MASSACHUSETTS' UNIVERSAL CARE PLAN PROVIDES MODEL FOR CALIFORNIA.

A bipartisan coalition of leaders in Massachusetts has shown the nation that we don't need to wait for the foot-draggers in Washington to come up with solutions to our health care crises of rising prices and shrinking coverage.

On Tuesday, the Bay State Legislature approved - nearly unanimously - a measure that will guarantee health care coverage for most if not all of the state's residents by 2007.

This is not socialized medicine, or some Draconian scheme that penalizes businesses to the point of driving jobs away. In fact, the legislation has widespread support of the business and medical communities, as well as advocates for the poor.

So how did Massachusetts do it? By using carrots and sticks, and by spreading responsibility far and wide.

Under the bill, everyone who can afford health insurance must get it. This is a matter of individual responsibility, with everyone tending to their own needs. It also puts more younger, healthier people - who often recklessly forgo health insurance - into the system, thereby reducing the financial burden that the sick and elderly impose on everyone else, and reducing the overall cost of coverage. < Businesses who don't provide health insurance would be required to pay an annual $295 per employee into a state fund. And a combination of tax breaks and state subsidies would then help to cover the costs for those who can't afford coverage.

The legislation borrows some of the best ideas of the left and the right. And it sailed through a Legislature dominated by liberal Democrats, while earning the support of a conservative Republican governor.

So not only has Massachusetts taught the rest of the country a thing or two about health care policy, but it's also set the standard for bipartisan cooperation to find solutions for the people.

Let's hope the folks in Sacramento are paying close attention to their counterparts in Boston.