The California Senate’s health committee effectively killed an ambitious proposal to create a near-universal health-care system, dealing a major political defeat yesterday to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a setback to similar efforts nationally. The bill, which would have covered nearly 4 million people, or 70 percent of the state’s uninsured residents, had been a top priority for Schwarzenegger (R) since last January, when the governor presented a proposal to create a system that would guarantee health insurance for all Californians. ‘I will not give up trying to fix our broken health-care system,’ Schwarzenegger said after the vote. ‘The issue is too important, and the crisis is too serious, to walk away after all the great progress we have made.’ Schwarzenegger negotiated mainly with Democrats, who control the state legislature and had their own ideas for a health-care overhaul. They proved more amenable to a major initiative than state Republicans, who were deeply skeptical of the plans. Late in the year, the governor found a partner in Assembly Speaker Fabian N¿¿ez, and the Assembly passed a compromise bill on a party-line vote late last month. But the legislation ran into trouble in the Senate last week, in […]