Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez recently announced that there was no chance comprehensive health care reform would pass in 2008. He did, however, say there were likely to be several "piecemeal" bills considered and enacted this year.
My guess is that components of Assembly Bill X1-1, the reform package Speaker Nunez worked out with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, will wind on the table. I'm not sure they'll become law, however.
Governor Schwarzenegger seems to understand that a lot of what made ABX1-1 work (to the extent it did work) was the internal balances it incorporated. A modular approach often creates more problems than it solves. For example, ABX1-1 required carriers to accept all applicants regardless of their health conditions. This was balanced by a mandate that all residents buy coverage. A law enacting just half of this equation would be a disaster. If there's only a mandate to sell, then premiums in the individual market will double at a minimum. If there's a mandate to buy, then premiums for those presenting high risks will be unaffordable.
Which brings us to the interactive portion of this post. What health care reforms would you like the legislature to consider? Remember, they are facing a tremendous budget crisis, so ideas requiring significant expenditures aren't going to make it far. But if you've got a suggestion, nows the time to speak up -- or write up, I suppose.
To post your health care reform idea, just click on the "Post a Comment" link, below. I can't promise anyone in the Capitol will listen, but at least it's an opportunity to share your ideas with the rest of the class.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
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2 comments:
My idea is nothing new, as it was suggested over 15 years ago by another former CAHU (and NAHU) president. That idea is simple: Instead of the government setting up a huge purchasing and service bureaucracy, why not have them do what they seem to do best: Give people money to purchase health insurance either through their employer or a personal plan. The concept, referred to as a "Health Insurance Voucher" would be very similar to food stamps: You qualify a family based on income and size and then provide them a voucher which they can use to purchase private coverage in the open market (individual or group). Like food stamps, you don't tell them where they have to buy their groceries, just that certain things they cannot buy (i.e. liquor, tobacco, etc..). But in providing food stamps for people to buy food for their family on the open market you don't have the government getting into the grocery store business. Same with a health voucher: The government doesn't need to get into the insurance business (i.e. single payer) nor does it have to become the exclusive/sole purchaser or arranger of coverage, just provide a monthly/quarterly/annual voucher to pay all or a part of the premium cost of private coverage. Yes, they might specify that their are minimum policy standards that have to be met when you buy a policy using a voucher, but they should allow the free market to compete openly for the business. Insurers will design plans that will compete for those dollars by featuring benefits and rates that atract buyers who have a government voucher for private insurance in their hands. By continuing to encourage competition we get more carriers in the market to buy from or attract insurers to remain in our market rather than leave. Yes, there are many details that would need to be worked out but in my mind a health voucher is the way to go: Private sector innovation, personal choice, competition, and minimal government interference.
-Dave Fear, Sacramento, CA
I would like to see CA resind the law that elimates exclusions on individual policies. I could write 30% more policies with this. I realize people will say that an exclusion does not solve all the problems, but at least people would have coverage for the 50,000 other things that can go wrong.
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