It is critical that all employers, especially low-wage employers, pay their share to provide health coverage for their workers.

Unless employers recognize the real need to cover their employees, taxpayers will have to pick up the cost or we’ll continue to have far too many families without access to health care they need.

The governor’s plan allows employers to shirk this responsibility and pay a fee of only 4% of their payroll costs. Considering the high costs of private health insurance, that amount seems inadequate. If a worker is paid $25,000 a year, 4% is only $1000, not enough to buy insurance for an individual, let alone a family.

San Diego’s major industries — such as tourism and retail — are creating many low-wage jobs that usually do not include healthcare benefits. If these industries do not step up to their responsibilities, many low-income and middle-income families will still be left in the lurch.

Half a million San Diego County residents are now uninsured, and most of them are in working families.

The success of any health reform plan will depend on whether good-quality health coverage is truly affordable for these workers and families. Requiring people to buy bare-bones policies with high deductibles is a bandaid that won’t stick.

Millions of Californians now are “underinsured,” because they can afford only skimpy coverage that leaves them vulnerable to high out-of-pocket costs. Medical costs are a leading cause of personal bankruptcy, even among those who have insurance.