[courtesy of California Progress Report]

• Democratic-supported budget would largely restore Medi-Cal rate reductions
• California Discount Prescription Drug Program continues
• Semi-Annual Reports and Healthy Families premium increases still in negotiations
• Conference Committee could close down as early as this Sunday, July 6th

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Care Policy Coordinator
Health Access California

The most exciting thing this week (other than Health Access' report release) was the release of the California Medical Association's annual "Knox-Keene Health Plan Expenditures Report,'' which replaces my old dog-eared copy from a couple years ago.

The report gathers data reported by health plans to the Department of Managed Health Care to show which ones spend the most on medical services for their enrollees (and which ones spend the most on administration and profit). This is called the "Medical Loss Ratio,'' you know, because plans ''lose'' money when they spend it on health care for you. The percentage of premium dollars spent on patient care is an important (though not the only) measure of a plan’s value.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Health legislation heard in final policy committees before July break

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Care Policy Coordinator
Health Access California

With tomorrow's deadline for legislation to have cleared policy committees in the second house, lawmakers heard a battery of bills this past week. Key pieces of legislation of interest to health advocates were also on the agenda. Many of the bills advocates have been tracking passed.

Following is a list of the bills heard this week and the outcome. Additionally, you may visit the Health Access website, for a complete list of bills.

The following bills passed in Assembly Health Committee, chaired by Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, on Tuesday:

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

•SB1522 to ban junk insurance passes Assembly Health Committee
•AB1945 would impose new rules on insurers who cancel insurance policies
•AB2967 to collect cost and quality data from medical providers passes

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Care Policy Coordinator
Health Access California

Key bills of interest to health advocates were heard in the last two days, in, respectively, the Assembly Health Committee, chaired by Assemblymember Mervyn Dymally, and Senate Health Committee, chaired by Senator Sheila Kuehl.

Hundreds of bills that passed the house where they were introduced must now clear the second house; and the first step of that is to pass policy committees by June 27. A number of bills that would benefit health care consumers were in Assembly and Senate Health committees this week, including a number of key bills that would lay the foundation for comprehensive health reform in the next couple of years. An updated list of bills is available on the Health Access website.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Care Policy Coordinator
Health Access California

75 million adults -- that's 42% of working age adults in the US -- had no insurance or really bad insurance (the kind that makes you pay up the nose anytime you sneeze) in 2007.

That's up from 35% of working age adults that were uninsured or underinsured in 2003, the first time Health Affairs did this analysis. A new analysis -- out today!-- updates the study from five years ago.

Among the findings:

• 25 million people who were technically "insured'' actually have really crappy insurance (that amounts to one-fifth of the entire "insured'' population)
• The number of adults earning between $40k and $60k who were underinsured nearly tripled from 5% to 13%.
• The number of adults earning more than $100k and were underinsured (meaning that they spent more than 10% of their income on out-of-pocket medical expenses) increased from 1% to 7%.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

• Assembly and Senate budget committees vote to reject severe cuts to Medi-Cal, including major denials of coverage to working parents & others, elimination of dental & other benefits. Votes would also restore some of the provider rate reductions.

• Significant cuts agreed to by at least one committee include: Cuts to public and private hospitals, counties, health plans; increases in Healthy Families premiums; additional reporting for children; increased premiums for seniors

• Clear choice in budget debate moving forward: Hundreds of thousands of Californians denied coverage & care, or an alternative to a cuts-only budget that includes revenues

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Care Policy Coordinator
Health Access California

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Care Policy Coordinator
Health Access California

The Senate budget subcommittee that oversees the state's health budget voted to eliminate funding that would have implemented the California Discount Prescription Drug Program. By eliminating the $5.8 million in funding for this program, the work that state officials have done the past two years in negotiating lower rates will go to waste.

As many may recall, health advocates went through a bruising battle against Big PhRMA in 2005 ($80 million spent against us) on the ballot, and then won a year later when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill and even had a fancy signing ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda.

The discount drug program would have allowed the state to negotiate discounted drug prices from pharmaceutical company, helping approximately 5.4 million uninsured families -- the people who now pay FULL PRICE for prescription drugs -- buy drugs at fairer prices. If drug companies did not give satisfactory discounts, then the state could have used the purchasing power of Medi-Cal to leverage lower prices.