BOSTON—The Massachusetts House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to override Gov. Mitt Romney’s veto of a provision in a landmark universal health care reform law that would impose an assessment on employers that don’t provide health insurance.

The provision, vetoed by the governor earlier this month, requires employers with at least 11 employees that do not offer health insurance or make a "fair and reasonable" contribution toward that coverage to pay an annual $295-per-employee fee.

Gov. Romney said the assessment was not necessary to implement or finance health care reform. The House, though, overrode the veto by a 136-20 vote. The state Senate also is expected to override the veto.

The underlying bill, which Gov. Romney signed earlier this month, requires all state residents to have coverage—if affordable coverage is available—or face financial penalties.

To help achieve near-universal coverage, the measure, among other things, would heavily subsidize health insurance premiums for lower-income individuals.

Financing of this expansion of coverage would come through a variety of sources, including an expansion of Medicaid support from Washington. Additionally, revenues raised from surcharges now applied to hospital bills and used to reimburse providers for uncompensated care would be redistributed to subsidize the cost of health insurance premiums.

Lawmakers hope the law will reduce the number of Massachusetts residents without health insurance—now at about 550,000 people—by about 95% over the next three years.

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