New Analysis Provides Assurances on California Health Reform to be Voted on This Afternoon

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

• LAO Agrees that Health Reform Can Pencil Out, but Overstates Risk
• Analysis Spotlights What LAO Neglected

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

The Senate Health Committee is scheduled to vote this afternoon on the comprehensive health reform measure, AB x1 1, negotiated by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The bill would dramatically reform the health care system through multiple efforts, including by significantly expanding public health programs, ensuring that employers contribute to their worker’s health coverage, and stopping insurers for denying people for “pre-existing conditions.”

NEW ANALYSIS: As California state Senators consider their vote, new information and analyses are coming out that provide more benefits and assurances for California consumers, taxpayers, and the state general fund.

A new analysis by Health Access California agrees with the Legislative Analyst’s Office’s verification of the ability for health reform, as proposed in AB x1 1, to pencil out for five years without any impact on the general fund. However, the Health Access analysis spotlights information where the LAO has:

• Significantly overstated risk, especially with regard to the number of uninsured, the baseline premium price for coverage, and the ability to draw down federal funds.