Hopkins dean backs state bill for universal health care

The dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health endorsed a state bill yesterday that would force businesses to offer health insurance to their employees or pay toward a fund for the uninsured.

Bloomberg School of Public Health Dean Alfred Sommer said later, It is extraordinarily embarrassing for me, personally, to go to almost any meeting in the world where there are people from other developed market economies because we are the only country which does not guarantee access to health care.

Sommer joins a long list of supporters of the bill, which is expected to be filed in the General Assembly within the next few days. But the proposal has strong opponents. The state Chamber of Commerce said that forcing businesses to participate in health care coverage could cost them more than $500 million, which would lead to the loss of thousands of jobs.