[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

California's effort at comprehensive health care reform is still getting attention, as various experts from California and across the country are weighing in with their analyses, reports, and debriefs from the fight. (This is beyond the initial reactions in the first week, by Health Access and many others, such as editorial boards.)

It's clear the eyes of the nation (or at least health reformers) were on California, and there's a consensus that there are important lessons to learn from our experience: from the policy, from the politics, and the process, as the nation starts to deal with this issue as the federal level. While not endorsing the view of any commentator or author, here's what has come out just recently:

• The New America Foundation has a full report, entitled "Lessons From California's Health Reform Efforts for the National Debate" written by Peter Harbage, Leif Wellington Haase, and Len Nichols.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By David Dayen
d-day

Facing a torrent of criticism Tuesday, Blue Cross of California abruptly halted its practice of asking physicians in a letter to look for medical conditions that could be used to cancel patients' insurance coverage.

In a statement issued about 6 p.m., the state's largest for-profit insurer said, "Today we reached out to our provider partners and California regulators and determined this letter is no longer necessary and, in fact, was creating a misimpression and causing some members and providers undue concern.

"As a result, we are discontinuing the dissemination of this letter going forward."

The Los Angeles Times occasionally earns its moniker of the Los Angeles Dog Trainer, but they have covered the many Blue Cross issues with a great deal of honor and professionalism. And they can be proud of the results.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Michael Russo
Health Care Advocate and Staff Attorney
California Public Interest Research Group (CalPIRG)

The Senate Health Committee’s rejection of California’s comprehensive health care reform bill, ABX1-1, was a triumph for the fear of change and a loss for California. Although the legislation would have prevented insurers from denying coverage to the sick because of pre-existing conditions, created a three-million strong purchasing pool to enhance consumer bargaining power, extended coverage to 70% of the state’s uninsured, and given small business owners an affordable way to get coverage for themselves and their employees, it nonetheless went down to defeat last week.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

In the wake of yesterday’s defeat in the Senate Health Committee of AB 1X 1—a compromise bill between Speaker of the Assembly and Governor of California—and barring a miracle, California will not see comprehensive health care reform this year. There’s just no other way to make sense out of the bills in the legislative hopper, the negotiations that have taken place in the last year, and sifting through the welter of statements made after the committee’s vote, many of which we will be posting soon in a separate article.

Try as he may, Speaker Fabian Nunez’s characterization of AB 1X 1 as a “bipartisan” bill is illusory, unless bipartisanship means having one Republican (Arnold Schwarzenegger) supporting it and all Republicans in both houses of the legislature (without exception) opposing it. The bill was passed by the Assembly solely with Democratic votes.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Michael Russo
Health Care Advocate and Staff Attorney
California Public Interest Research Group (CalPIRG)

The long-gestating comprehensive health care reform bill, ABX1-1, also known as the Health Care Security and Cost Reduction Act, finally cleared the California Assembly with great fanfare on Monday. But even now that the glow of the triumphal press conference has faded, opinions have still failed to converge, with some calling it a giant leap forward for consumers, and others labeling it fiscally irresponsible and doomed to failure.

It’s no surprise that different people will have different takes on a 200-page piece of legislation that institutes fundamental changes in dozens of areas. Just coming to grips with what ABX1-1 does is a task in itself. But while there are definitely areas where ABX1-1 can be improved, it really is a landmark bill that will catapult California out of the dark ages and towards a nation-leading health care system.