Is your health care too expensive? California has some ideas to bring costs down
So health care advocates and lawmakers are working on a piecemeal approach. They want to offer a public insurance option to compete with private companies. They want to increase subsidies for those buying insurance through Obamacare. They want to cover most undocumented immigrants. They want to lower prescription drug costs.
A new coalition of
Legislation is still being crafted, but any major overhaul will face steep political and financial challenges.
Rough estimates indicate the costs for measures to expand access, improve quality and lower consumer costs could be as much as
Key players on health care in
But advocates say they are trying to shore up Obamacare, move toward universal access to coverage and lower high health care costs.
"We think this is a path that gets us to universal care and coverage," said
These are proposals under discussion in the state Legislature:
Creating a
Under this approach, the government could compete with private insurers in the health care marketplace and offer more coverage choices in regions with few current options or high-priced plans.
The idea is attractive to policymakers like Assemblyman
"As someone who represents a very rural district, there is appeal to this for me personally," he said. "We have less competition in the health care plans that are available out there, so why not have this as an option? For people (who) simply don't have a lot of choices, this could be an amazingly positive opportunity for them."
One idea would add a government-run public option to the current plans offered through Covered California. Another approach would build on
Expanding state financial assistance to purchase insurance
State Sen.
A report released this week to the Assembly's special health committee, charged with identifying a path to universal coverage in
Hernandez is eying
"I'm hoping that money can help reduce the cost of health insurance through Covered California," Hernandez said.
Covering undocumented immigrants
At present, the vast majority of Californians -- 93 percent -- have some type of coverage. There are roughly 3 million remaining uninsured residents. Nearly 2 million of them are undocumented immigrants, who are not covered by Obamacare. Many have incomes that would enable them to qualify for
State Sen.
He's tried it before -- four times -- unsuccessfully. This year he's proposing it again with Senate Bill 974, which could go far in reducing the ranks of
"The governor never had animosity toward the population we're trying to serve ... it was trying to get to the real cost," Lara said. "I think this is a perfect year for us to make this happen."
Imposing a
President
As a result, health insurers and policy experts are concerned healthy, young people will drop their health insurance, destabilizing markets and making coverage even more expensive.
No lawmaker has formally endorsed an individual mandate bill, but some are considering it.
"We are greatly concerned about the impact the federal repeal will have on premiums for people purchasing their own coverage, combined with the hundreds of thousands of Californians who wold choose not to purchase coverage without a mandate in place," said
"We are talking to policymakers about the need to introduce legislation this year that would establish a state-based individual mandate ... as a way to stabilize
Controlling rising health care costs
The high cost of health care was ranked as Americans' top financial concern in a Gallup poll last year. Coverage is expected to get more expensive, with nationwide costs expected to rise 5.5 percent every year between now and 2026 and Obamacare premiums in
Former
Rising health care costs are being driven largely by unregulated prices in the commercial market, where most Californians get their health care, but also by hospital consolidations. As chains have grown bigger, health insurers and and plans have also consolidated, arming them with more purchasing power to negotiate lower prices.
But patients aren't always on the winning end of that.
"They may get lower prices, but they don't necessarily pass those on to consumers," said
Wood wants to bring some regulatory oversight to health plan mergers, which could help drive down prices. He has proposed Assembly Bill 595, which would give state health insurance regulators the chance to deny mergers and allow the public to weigh in.
Other efforts are underway to control costs by lowering prescription drug prices, capping payment rates to medical providers and requiring health plans to limit the amount of revenue spent on profits, marketing and administrative costs, requiring them instead to spend that money on patient care.
Additional bills already in print include one that would seek to ban
Path to single-payer
A
Assemblywoman
"For those of us who believe in single-payer, the question is how do we get there," Friedman said. "We want to take meaningful steps toward single-payer and at the same time, improve our current system. Not everyone has the luxury of waiting a couple of years, but there's no reason we can't be ready when we have a new (federal) administration."
Lt. Gov.
"Californians want action now, and we can't afford to wait for the next election or federal permission to start laying the groundwork," Newsom said in a statement. "With a short-term focus on increasing access while reducing costs, we can build an onramp to universal access through single-payer -- and I'm open to any ideas that will get us there."
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