Amid power-play allegations, state legislature freezes board makeup of CalOptima, Orange County’s $3.4 billion health care plan

Sept. 18--The California legislature has won its fight with the Orange County Board of Supervisors about who will oversee the county's $3.4 billion public health care plan, CalOptima, which covers nearly 800,000 low-income, disabled and elderly residents.

The legislature passed Senate Bill 4 last week, codifying the composition of CalOptima's governing board after local health care executives alleged that county Supervisor Andrew Do tried earlier this year to overhaul the nine-member board solely to retaliate against people who denied him the role of chairman.

Do, in response, has said SB4's real aim is wresting control away from local elected officials and giving power to health care executives who could stand to profit from perpetuating the CalOptima board's current makeup, which gives more power to the medical industry than Do's proposed changes would have.

CalOptima's board composition has transformed frequently in recent years, including only 20 months ago, when county supervisors voted to change its construction.

In July, Do, one of two supervisors who sits on the health plan's board, asked his fellow supervisors to make another change by removing the board's entire membership, forcing them to reapply for their posts and adding all five supervisors to the board. Do said CalOptima's membership spike under Obamacare increased the need for elected officials to sit on the board.

But Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) said CalOptima needs more stability than it has seen in recent years. So he introduced SB4 to keep the board the way county supervisors designed it 20 months ago. The state bill overrides any changes supervisors could make locally.

Jim Peterson, executive director of the Orange County Medical Association, said in July that the local medical industry backed SB4 because it thought Do was out for revenge after being denied the role of chairman.

Peterson said Do's proposed overhaul didn't give enough representation to local doctors, who know what's best for patients.

Do responded by accusing the Orange County Medical Association of attempting to maintain a "majority on the CalOptima board ... to directly impact their pocketbook." Peterson denied that claim.

Other county supervisors -- even those who disagreed with Do's proposed changes -- said they opposed the bill because they thought the state legislature shouldn't tell a county health care plan how to operate.

This is the second time this legislative session that Do's actions seemed to have inspired Mendoza to introduce a bill. Earlier this month, the legislature passed SB45, which bans elected officials from using taxpayer funds to send out mass mailings to constituents just prior to an election. Mendoza said he introduced SB45 in response to Do sending out nearly 1.2 million such mailers during his re-election bid last year.

The two bills, SB4 and SB45, now need only Gov. Jerry Brown's signature to become laws.

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