Federal judge rules against S.F. on health care plan

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White's ruling could also impede other state and local efforts to cover the uninsured in the absence of a national law. A state health care bill endorsed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and approved by the Assembly would be partly funded by employer fees, subject to state voters' approval.

City Attorney Dennis Herrera said he would ask the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday for an emergency stay that would allow the employer fee to take effect as scheduled Jan. 2 while the city appealed White's ruling. Without a stay, Herrera said, "tens of thousands of San Francisco residents and workers will be deprived of critically necessary health care services."

Mayor Gavin Newsom said the program

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