- 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
- 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 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 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
- Cavala: A Constitutional Convention for California?
- Eight Years From Bush v. Gore to Palin: The Bridge to Nowhere
- California Proposition 11: Redistricting Commission – YES
- What Does a Republican Running in an Increasingly Democratic District Do? Why Aghazarian Wants to Make Legislative Races Non-Partisan
- Prop 1A and High Speed Rail's Role in Fighting Dependence on Oil and Sprawl in California
- Schwarzenegger Vetoes Bill Recommended By Autism Commission
- Governor Schwarzenegger Can Put a Dent in Auto Repair Fraud and Protect Consumers by Signing AB 2825
- California Assembly District 26: Republican Refuses to Debate Eisenhut in Close Race Democrats May Pick Up
- Bankruptcy Relief and the Bailout
- A Renewed Call for Mortgage Reform in California
- Preschool Legislation Aimed at Closing the Achievement Gap in California Becomes Law
- Debate: Opening Advantage Obama
- 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
- Today’s California College Students: Indentured Servants?
- California Must Find the Funds to Feed Students
- PPIC Prop 8 Poll: Republicans and Evangelicals Motivated to Win
- Two Views on the Failure of the Campaign to Defeat Prop 8 and Optimism for Building a Structure for Victory in 2010
- Democrats Propose Majority Vote for California State Budget, Speaker Creates Accountability Committee
- Congressional Candidate Charlie Brown Concedes, Thanks Supporters, and Reflects on What Was Accomplished
- Looking Beyond Funding In Education Reform
About Us
The California Progress Report is published by Frank D. Russo, a longtime observer of and participant in California politics.
About Frank Russo.
About California Progress Report.
Got a news tip? Want to write a guest column? Contact Frank here.
Sponsors
Books
While Steinberg Was Elected New California Senate Leader, Insurance Lobbyists Were Busy Trying to Kill His Health Bill in the Assembly
By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California
While Senator Steinberg was being sworn in as the new President Pro Tem on the Senate side, and calling for “health access for every Californian,” insurance company lobbyists were actively attacking Senator Steinberg’s health care bill, SB1522, on the Assembly side.
Without a strong case to make, they are resorting to mischaracterizations of the bill, hoping nobody pays attention to the facts in the heated last days of session.
The bill is modest but meaningful. It would ensure that consumers have more confidence in their coverage, and that they know what they are getting when buying coverage as individuals.
Right now:
• It’s impossible to make price comparisons, since each plan from insurer has different deductibles, co-pays, out-of-pocket maximum, benefits, or networks.
• It’s hard to know what a plan covers, or doesn’t cover, or how comprehensive any given plan is.
• Some consumers think they are well covered, and find out they are not only when it is too late. Some plans are marketed as quality coverage but actually cover only hospitalization, but not surgeries, outpatient treatments, or doctor’s visits. (It would be like having car insurance, but only for accidents with red vehicles.) Some plans leave consumers with significant gaps in coverage, sometimes with unlimited exposure to medical bills.
SB1522 (Steinberg) does the following:
* Requires health insurance to cover doctors, hospitals, and preventive care
* Requires all health insurance to have a maximum out of pocket cost
* Categorizes all health insurance into five categories so that consumers can know whether they are buying comprehensive coverage with low cost sharing or a high deductible, catastrophic policy. It allows for "apples to apples" comparison
Contrary to the misrepresentations of Blue Cross and other insurers, here is what SB1522(Steinberg) does NOT do:
- SB1522 (Steinberg) does NOT eliminate so-called “low cost”, low premium products with high deductibles. In fact, that’s why there are five categories, so that those products are better labeled.
- SB1522 (Steinberg) does NOT require all health insurance to cover specific benefits. There are other bills: AB1962 DeLaTorre requires maternity coverage, for example.
- SB1522 (Steinberg) does NOT force people to leave the coverage they have. Anybody with a current plan can renew it indefinitely.
These mischaracterizations and misrepresentations show why we need the bill: Just as consumers are rightfully skeptical about their insurance policies and what’s in the fine print, legislators should be skeptical of the claims of the insurance companies. The point of this bill is to give consumers more confidence that their coverage will be there for them when they need it. I am not sure there’s a legislative remedy for the representations of insurers in the halls of the Capitol.
Assemblymembers should join key organizations, including Health Access California, AARP California, ACORN California, AFSCME, CALPIRG, California Teachers Association, Congress of California Seniors, Community Health Councils, Consumers Union, Having Our Say, Jericho, Latino Issues Forum, MALDEF, MS Society, Planned Parenthood, SEIU, Small Business Majority, and Western Center on Law & Poverty in supporting SB1522(Steinberg).
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
Post a comment
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.
