California Health Bills Pass to Require 85% of Premium to Go to Patient Care; Regulate Rescissions; Foster a Public Insurer; Discourage "Never Events," Encourage Hospital Community Benefits

The following bills passed in Senate Health Committee, chaired by Senator Sheila Kuehl, on Wednesday:

* AB 2146 (Feuer): ‘NEVER EVENTS’: Bans providers from billing patients or insurers when they have made an avoidable mistake, such as operating on the wrong person, prescribing the wrong drugs, or leaving foreign objects inside a surgery patient. Support
* AB 2549 (Hayashi) RECISSION TIME LIMIT: Would impose an 18-month time limit in which insurers have to rescind individual health care policies once consumers’ applications are approved. This bill was amended from previous versions, which limited the time frame for rescission to the first six months. Watch, seeking shorter time limit.
* AB 2569 (De Leon) RESCISSION AND BROKER ACCOUNTABILITY: Ensures that family members whose coverage depends on that of the rescinded person may be offered another individual policy. Also requires brokers who take applications to attest, under penalty of perjury, that the information is complete and accurate to the best of their knowledge. Support.
* AB 2697 (Huffman) BOUTIQUE HOSPITALS: Would require so-called “boutique hospitals’’ to assess their impact on a community’s health system annually, specifically whether they siphon doctors, workers, providers from general acute hospitals caring for less affluent populations. Support
* AB 2942 (Ma) COMMUNITY BENEFITS: Would standardize what non-profit hospitals report as “community benefits” to justify their non-profit status. Support

The Legislature will now take a break from committees while budget negotiations are expected to continue throughout July. Both houses will resume committees on August 4. These bills will need to pass fiscal committees by August 15th and the final floor votes by August 31. If they pass through the Legislature, the Governor will have the month of September to decide to sign or veto the bills.

Hanh Kim Quach is the Health Care Policy Coordinator for Health Access California. Before joining the organization, she worked as a journalist for nearly 9 years covering issues in California. 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.