Health Care

The creation of a new health insurance exchange offers our state the chance to build a better marketplace for health care.  The exchange can help individuals and small businesses by increasing competition and improving choices in the state’s insurance market.  By providing better options and better information, and negotiating on behalf of its enrollees, the exchange can level the playing field for consumers.

The exchange is a store where consumers can buy health insurance products – and anyone who’s worked retail knows that however much work has gone into crafting strong policies and building an efficient back-office, if customers  can’t understand, compare and choose the products that are right for them, it just won’t work.  

Medicaid will see its eligibility significantly increased in 2014, the same year the state exchange will open its doors. 

On March 23, 2010, after a long congressional debate, President Barack Obama signed into law comprehensive federal health care reform legislation, known as the Affordable Care Act or ACA. But the enactment of the law did not end the debate. Even the law’s strongest proponents acknowledge the need for improvements. And across the country, state legislators and Governors have been urged to slow or stop work on implementation of key provisions. The courts are considering legal challenges to the law. Members of Congress will consider attempts to repeal both the law as a whole and its key provisions. This year, California's elected officials will face their own choices regarding proposals to repeal or roll back existing law. This report examines the costs and benefits of repeal for the taxpayers, consumers, and businesses of our state.
 

The recently passed federal health care reform law will make significant changes in how health insurance and health care work for consumers, businesses, and local and state governments, as well as how insurers and providers operate.  But whether Americans experience improved care, lower costs and greater access depends largely on what happens next. This guide has been written to assist state policymakers and advocates as they engage with the numerous issues and opportunities presented by the new law. 

Of all the problems affecting California’s health care system, none is more immediate than the skyrocketing premiums consumers face year after year.  Understandably, then, Anthem Blue Cross of California’s recent proposal to hike rates on its customers by up to 39 percent galvanized an angry public.  A majority of states – at least 30 – have some form of protection, called “rate review.”  And their experience proves that giving regulators the power to reject proposed premium increases that cannot be justified on the facts helps police insurer behavior and lowers costs.