by DFA Staff [courtesy of Blog for America]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is saying the Bush administration was wrong to place limits on "states' ability to extend health coverage to moderate-income children".  The Associated Press via the Boston Globe reports:

The Government Accountability Office advised Senator Jay Rockefeller, Democrat of West Virginia, that the administration's policy changes amounted to a rule that should have been submitted to Congress and the comptroller general before going into effect.

Danny
Communications Director

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Two New Reports Document the Problem

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Care Policy Coordinator
Health Access California

An article in this month's Health Affairs (subscription required) breaks down why the U.S. Census Bureau's statistic pointing out that one-third of "higher income'' Americans is uninsured is misleading. The Census statistics are an important source for health coverage data and is also used by the federal government to allocate funds.

In 2006, according to Census statistics, more than one in every three Americans (37.8%) lived in a household with income higher than $50,000.

But, the Health Affairs article points out"...many of the uninsured who live in higher income households do not fit a profile of "financially able but unwilling."

Moments when income is "high" could be a temporary, as with self-employed or transient workers. So are moments of uninsurance, when a person is between jobs.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

The number of small employers offering health coverage to their employees slipped again to 61 percent. That's down from 69 percent at the beginning of the decade, according to Mercer Human Resources Consulting.

The survey, released today, contains a number of other sobering stats:

• Among big companies, deductibles rose by 11 percent to $473 for individuals, $1,134 for a family.

• Small company deductibles rose at a slower pace, but still tend to be higher at $872 for individuals and $1,879 for families.

• Underinsurance -- through consumer directed health plans -- rose by 5 percent

While employers are currently saving money by having more workers enroll in consumer-directed plans and shifting more costs to workers, the savings are only a short-term benefit, another human resources consulting firm has noted.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Art Pulaski
Executive Secretary-Treasurer
California Labor Federation

The California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, is strongly committed to achieving real health care reform this year. We have worked throughout the year with the Legislature and the Administration to tackle the real and challenging issues of expanding health care coverage, containing costs, and ensuring affordability for working families. It is in this spirit of cooperation and commitment to reform that we can, on behalf of the more than two million members we represent, support ABx1 1 if it is amended to address several outstanding concerns.

ABx1 1 includes many important provisions that will help California’s working families.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

• Comparison with Prior Democratic and Governor's Proposal
• Would Require Californian to Have Health Insurance, But Conditioned on Affordability

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

Democratic legislative leaders on Tuesday announced out their latest health reform proposal, as the framework for a potential agreement with Governor Schwarzenegger. The press release is available at the website of Speaker Fabian Nunez.

The framework would provide more help to more Californians in getting affordable coverage than either the Governor's plan or the legislative leaders' previous proposal, AB 8. It also moves in the direction of the Governor's proposal in key areas, including spreading the financial burden among a broader range of contributors, and introducing a requirement that all Californians buy health coverage--although only if coverage is deemed affordable.

The new bill, AB X1 1 (the first bill in the first extraordinary session of the legislature) will be formally introduced as legislative language later this week. It is expected to be heard in the Assembly Health Committee hearing on November 14th. Financing elements of the plan, which include a hospital fee, employer fee and a $2-a-pack tobacco tax, would appear before voters in November 2008.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

In the wake of President Bush's veto of SCHIP and the stalemate over the reauthorization of the federal children's coverage program, board members of California's Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board (MRMIB) on Monday took the first step that would enable the state to put children eligible for Healthy Families on a waitlist, or begin disenrolling eligible children from the program altogether.

Emergency Regulations adopted on Monday can be found here. Healthy Families enrolls approximately 830,000 children in families with incomes between 100% and 250% of the federal poverty level ($20,650 to $51,625 for a family of four).

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

This is why we need to get a comprehensive health care reform passed now. Millions of Californians cannot afford to wait for the perfect plan to make it into law years down the road. The situation is bad and getting worse.

California now ranks fifth nationwide in the percentage of workers who have health care coverage through their jobs. The national average is 63% and here in California it is only 55.7%. Heath insurance has gotten more expensive and companies have been pushing the costs on to workers or reducing benefits. Chron:

In California, the problem is worse due to the sheer size of the population and the fact a large number of residents work in jobs that typically do not offer health insurance, such as agriculture, hospitality and the service industry.

According to the study, which uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, the number of Californians covered by their jobs dropped to just under 18 million workers in 2005-2006 from 18.5 million in 2000-2001, or nearly half a million people.

It is bad and getting worse. The middle class is hit the hardest and children are losing their coverage.