California employers may have defeated their state's proposed universal health coverage program.[@@]
With 100% of precincts reporting, the universal health implementation ballot measure, Proposition 72, appears to be losing. The measure attracted 4.56 million supporting votes, or 49.1% of the 9.3 million votes cast.
But "no" votes outnumber "yes" votes by only about 163,000. California could still get as many as 2.5 million absentee ballots and an unknown number of provisional ballots, according to a spokeswoman for the California secretary of state's office.
Officials have 28 days to complete their count of the vote, the spokeswoman says.
California voters saw Proposition 72 on the Nov. 2 general election ballot because of a provision in S.B. 2, the bill that triggered efforts to set up a state universal health coverage program.
S.B. 2 could require employers with more than 49 employees to choose between offering health coverage or contributing to a state health coverage program.
