Calif. and Texas face big challenges, take different health reform approaches

The LA Times reports that California, because of its budget issues and need to slash state safety net programs, could become a trouble spot for the health law.

Los Angeles Times: California Could Pose Problem For Obama's Health Care Reform
For more than a year, as conservative states have battled President Obama's sweeping health care law, California was supposed to be a model that showed the law's promise. But the state is emerging as one of the biggest headaches for the White House in its bid to help states bring millions of Americans into the health care system starting in 2014. Though still outpacing much of the nation, cash-strapped California is cutting its health care safety net more aggressively than almost any other state, despite billions of dollars in special aid from Washington (Levey, 9/15).

California Healthline: What Texas Can Teach California About Health Care Reform
The nation's most-populous states face similar health care challenges. Both feature diverse service areas, high rates of uninsurance and large undocumented immigrant communities. Yet the pair adopted staggeringly different approaches to reforming their health care systems across the past decade (Diamond, 9/14).

In other news, dire jobs numbers refocus attention on the law's employer mandate -

The Hill: Dire Jobs Numbers Spark Renewed Push For Repeal Of Employer Mandate
Congressional Republicans and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are renewing their push for repealing the health care law's employer mandate in the wake of last month's flat jobs numbers. Bills to repeal the requirement that businesses provide their workers with quality health insurance starting in 2014 have garnered 34 co-sponsors in the Senate and 144 in the House, including Blue Dog Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.). And on Wednesday, the International Franchise Association released a report that found that the mandate threatens 3.2 million full-time jobs at tens of thousands of franchise businesses (Pecquet, 9/14).