* The legislative leaders *did* match the employer mandate with an employee mandate. They did not go further with a mandate on those individuals that don’t get any assistance from public programs or group coverage, whether employers or public programs. That’s a justifiable argument: forcing people into the individual market, into the least efficient, most expensive way to get coverage, without any bargaining power, at the mercy of the insurers, and without subsidies for strapped middle-income consumers.
The general gist of your article is correct, about the opportunity we have this year, and the responsibility that implies. We do feel the pressure from my consumer advocates colleagues other states to do this, but also to do this right. And there’s a counterforce in California: if we have to go to the ballot again (a fight we came so-close last time), we need to be able to vigorously defend it.
As a Bronx native, I’ll leave the remark about Yankees fan alone. J
In humility,
Anthony