- HOME
- About
- Topics
- Angelides
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- California Attorney General Race
- California Congressional Races
- California Democratic Party
- California Governor Race 2010
- California Legislative Races
- California Lt. Governor Race
- California Secretary of State Race
- California State Budget
- California State Controller
- Campaign Finance Reform
- Campaigns
- Cell Phones
- Children and Families
- Consumer Rights
- Corporate Accountability
- Criminal Justice
- Death With Dignity
- Disaster Preparation
- Discrimination and Civil Rights
- Economy/ Economic Crisis
- Education
- Elections and Voting
- Electoral College
- Energy
- Environment
- Farm Animal Cruelty Ballot Measure
- Flood Control
- Food Safety
- Gas Prices
- Governor's Election Race
- Gun control
- Health Care
- Health Insurance
- Hiram Johnson's Corner
- Housing
- Human Rights
- Humor
- Immigration
- Infrastructure
- Initiative Reform
- Insurance Commissioner Race
- Labor
- Language and Politics
- Legal System
- Media and Communication
- Minimum Wage
- Open Government
- Pharmaceutical Companies
- Politics
- Preschool
- Presidential Election 2008
- Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act Prop
- Prison Reform
- Privacy
- Privitization
- Prop 11-Redistricting/Reapportionment
- Prop 12--Veterans Housing Bond
- Prop 1A--High Speed Rail
- Prop 2--Treatment of Farm Animals
- Prop 3-Children's Hospital Bonds
- Prop 4 Waiting Period and Parental Notification
- Prop 5--Non-violent drug offenses
- Prop 6--Police and law enforcement spending
- Prop 7 and 10-Alternative Fuel and Energy Bond
- Prop 8 and-Marriage Equality
- Prop 85 Parental Notification
- Prop 86 Tobacco Tax
- Prop 87--Alternative Energy
- Prop 9 Parole
- Prop 90
- Prop 91--Transportation Funding
- Prop 92- Community Colleges
- Prop 93--Term Limits
- Props 94-97--Tribal Gaming
- Props 98 and 99
- Racial Disparities
- Responsible Lending
- Retirement Benefits
- Site of the Day
- Solar Initiative
- Structure of California Government
- Taxes
- Toxic Chemicals
- Transportation/Transit
- Water
- Westly
- Workers' Compensation
- Stories
- Governor Signs Legislation To Prevent Loss Of Healthy Families Coverage For Over 900,000 Children
- Townhall Meeting Focuses on At-Risk Babies and Toddlers
- State Park Cuts Lack Logic
- Conservation Organizations Oppose California Policy That Would Give Carbon Credits for Forest Clearcutting
- WellPoint and Its Subsidiary Have Waged Campaign to Derail Health Reform
- Article Repeats Right-Wing Myth About State Spending
- Can Obama Orate His Way Out of Another Crisis?
- Furlough Issue Comes To Head This Week at UC
- Sean Hannity Spreads Dangerous Misinformation about California Water
- Daring To Get It Right: Legislature Says 'No' To Dangerous Last Minute Water Policy Proposal
- Weekly Radio Address: Galgiani, Coto Report Progress In Bipartisan Delegation’s Meetings With Key Cabinet Officials And Congressional Leaders On Budgetary And Policy Issues Critical To California
- A Missed Opportunity: Economic Recovery Should Start With the Prisons
- Directory
- Donate
- Contact Us
RSS Advertise Here
Deliver your message to thousands of readers every day.
Our readers are influential opinion makers - politicians, journalists and activists.
Our latest headlines
- Weekly Radio Address: Assembly Lead Water Negotiators Huffman, Caballero Discuss this Week’s Historic Agreement to Solve California’s Water Crisis
- Feinstein Once Again Flirts With Entering the Governor’s Race
- A Good Health Care Bill Emerging from the House
- Schwarzenegger Applauds Passage of Peripheral Canal/Dams Water Package
- "Historic" Water Deal Draws Both Praise and Criticism
- Republican State Senators Vote for Administrative Chaos, Backdoor Cuts in IHSS
- Assembly Budget Committee Follow-up Informational Hearing on Implementation on IHSS Program Changes
About Us
David Greenwald, Editor. (Contact David.)
CFC Education Foundation, Publisher. (Contact us.)
Got a news tip? Want to write a guest column?
Contact David here.
About California Progress Report.
Founded by Frank D. Russo (Publisher and Editor, 2006-08).
Sponsors
Books
More Details on Health Care Bill and Amendments California Assembly Will Vote on Tomorrow
By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California
To add to the article Friday that had our preliminary analysis of the new amendments of a health care deal out of the negotiations between Governor Schwarzenegger and Speaker Nunez, here's some more information about the framework for the financing:
EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION
The minimum employer contribution would scale up to 6.5%. All employers would need to contribute:
• California employers with payrolls of up to $250,000 a year would have to spend at least 1% on healthcare for their workers.
• Those with payrolls from $250,000 to $1 million would have to pay 4%.
• Those with payrolls of over $1 million up to $15 million would have to pay 6%.
• All larger employers of payrolls of over $15 million that would have to pay 6.5%.
Employers would have the choice of providing coverage privately, as they do now, or paying a fee of this amount to the statewide purchasing pool. The expectation is that employers who provide coverage now, with no requirement, would continue to do so, just as employers pay more than the minimum wage, but the minimum creates a floor from which workers can bargain up from.
TOBACCO TAX
The other news on financing is that the additional funding will be the tobacco tax, rather than the leasing of the lottery. The additional amount will probably be from $1.50-$2.00.
MIDDLE-INCOME SUBSIDIES
We expect that amendments on Monday to also detail the subsidies for folks over 250% of the federal poverty level. Families earning between 250% and 400% of the federal poverty level ($82,600 for a family of four) would be subsidized so that their premium costs will not exceed 5.5% of their incomes. We understand that this would be tied to to a premium for a middle-tier product, rather than the minimum benefit (or top-tier plan). This would mean that those families could choose to spend less than 5.5% for a minimum policy, or a set amount more for a comprehensive policy with little cost-sharing.
EARLY RETIREE CREDITS
There is also planned to be a tax credit for people who retire before they qualify for Medicare at age 65 from 400-700%FPL ($71,000 for a single person and $145,000 for a family of four) so that they would not spend more than 10% of their savings income on insurance.
Health Access California is a statewide health care consumer advocacy coalition of over 200 groups. This article has also been published on the Health Access Weblog.
Comments
The subsidies for middle-incomers are in the form of tax credits, which are not particularly useful in helping people pay a monthly or yearly premium if they don't have the cash flow to do it. And as we enter a recession, that is going to be a major issue for middle-income Californians.
There appear to be no other firm cost control measures, and the only way people can get out of it if they can't afford it is to plead their case to the MRMIB, a difficult and discouraging process for most Californians unfamiliar and unskilled in such bureaucratic methods.
The vote is tomorrow - a reckless decision by Núñez - so where does Health Access California stand on the matter? Yea or nay?
Posted by: Robert in Monterey at December 16, 2007 09:59 AM
Sorry, comments are temporarily disabled. We're doing a bit of server maintenance on the commenting area. We'll be back up and running shortly. Thank you for your patience.
Get Email Updates
Want the California Progress Report by email? Once a week, we'll send you the latest and greatest headlines.
© 2008 California Progress Report Our copyright and fair use policy.
Powered by Mandate Media. Logo design by Jane Norling.
