Making Health Care Work

LOWER COSTS, BETTER CARE

Now the fight for health care reform is in Sacramento, and so are the health care industry’s lobbyists.

At stake is how we set up a new insurance marketplace in California — the single biggest tool we have to clean up health care. The new state insurance exchange will allow small businesses, those of us who buy health care on our own, and the uninsured to shop for cheaper health care plans and find some relief from increasingly brutal premiums.

Done right, the exchange will save billions and level the balance of power between consumers and the health care industry — driving the industry to cut waste and prioritize high-quality care.

The health care industry has spent millions to influence decisions on health care, so they know how high the stakes are.

In order to help us fight back against the kind of price jumps and trap-door coverage we’ve all been suffering from, CALPIRG is pushing to see that the exchange:

Negotiates for better plans. By demanding better care for less cost, the exchange can use the collective power of hundreds of thousands of Californians to finally demand that the industry does better.
Have high standards, so that bad plans aren’t an option.
Be open to as many Californians as possible. Limits that shut some individuals and businesses out of the exchange would reduce its ability to lower costs — and will be a key tactic that industry lobbyists use to weaken it.
Be accountable to the public.

Issue updates

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Media Hit | Health Care

The Sacramento Bee: The Conversation: Stuck in no man's land for health coverage

One man's story of the obstacles he encountered trying to purchase health insurance on the individual market illustrates why the changes coming n 2014 are so important.

News Release | CALPIRG | Health Care

Health Care Reform Benefiting Californians

To mark the second anniversary of the Affordable Care Act we collected stories from our members who are benefiting from health care reform.

News Release | CALPIRG | Health Care

CALPIRG Supported Law Saved Consumers $127 Million in Health Care Premiums

In 2010, CALPIRG helped pass a law requiring insurance companies to disclose the justification for their health insurance rate hikes. The disclosure uncovered errors and unjustified claims by insurers that saved Californians $127 million on their health insurance rates in 2011.

Result | Health Care

Pro-consumer Health Care Reform

CALPIRG’s advocacy helped ensure the health care law will bring down costs by setting up a competitive health insurance marketplace. In 2010, California became the first state in the country to begin setting up our state health insurance exchange.

News Release | CALPIRG | Health Care

Supreme Court to Hear Challenges on Health Reform

The Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments on the new health reform law means that soon, the question of its constitutionality will be settled, allowing states and policymakers to focus on lowering costs for consumers without being distracted by counterproductive lawsuits. Upholding the law would be a clear win for consumers, while a bad ruling would pull the rug out from under states and consumers.

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Media Hit | Health Care

Associated Press: Calif. Senate gets bill regulating insurance rates

"With health insurance costs increasing almost 10 percent a year for the past 10 years, consumers can't afford to wait any longer for a real check on rate hikes," said Pedro Morillas, legislative director for the California Public Interest Research Group, in a statement.

Media Hit | Health Care

Los Angeles Times Editorial: California needs to be able to regulate health insurance premiums

The measure, AB 52 by Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), would give the Department of Insurance the same authority to modify or reject proposed increases in health insurance premiums as it has in automobile and homeowner's insurance.

Media Hit | Health Care

Washington Post: Anthem Blue Cross delays premium, co-pay hikes in Calif. for estimated $40 million savings

Anthem Blue Cross, the largest health plan in California, said Monday it will delay and reduce rate hikes that would have hit some 600,000 policyholders at an estimated cost of $40 million.

Media Hit | Health Care

Sacramento Bee Viewpoints: Reviled health care law already helping people

A year after the passage of the federal health reform, the debate over the law continues to rage on the cable news shows and in Washington. Unfortunately, these fights have given off far more heat than light, with the inside-the-Beltway squabbles being mostly focused on scoring political points and not on assessing what the law is actually doing for real people.

Media Hit | Health Care

Insurance Commissioner Must Respond to Rate Hikes

Without strong implementation of new health care laws, the cost of health care will continue to grow faster than income and inflation.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Health Care

The Facts About Comparative Effectiveness Research

As Congressional and public debate over health care reform grows more intense, comparative effectiveness research (CER) has emerged as an unlikely flashpoint of controversy. Opponents’ claims that CER results in the rationing of health care or a government takeover are belied by the true nature of such research: it is simply fundamental scientific research of medical treatments aimed at determining the most effective ways to treat sickness and injury. It is the basis of all advancements in the field of medical science and has been used throughout history to improve medical treatment.

Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Health Care

Putting America Back to Work

As the national health reform debate begins in earnest, some pundits have suggested that America cannot afford to invest in health reform. The resounding response from political and thought leaders has been that America can't afford not to.

Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Health Care

More Bang for the Health Care Buck

The high cost of health care in California imposes an increasing burden on households, businesses, government, and the state’s economy – a burden made heavier by the current economic crisis. The money that insurance companies spend on inefficient administration, billing and marketing – instead of medical care for their enrollees – contributes to the high health care costs Californians must endure.

Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Health Care

Paying for What Works

Our health care system is in crisis. Interrelated problems with the affordability and quality of care are undermining patient care and threatening the economic future of American families and small businesses. This policy primer is intended to help meet that challenge. It examines seven factors which have led to the interrelated crises in cost and quality, and prescribes specific policy remedies to tame costs and restore health professionals’ ability to provide the care on which American families rely.

Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Health Care

Playing by Their Own Rules

This white paper examines the rules the drug companies have set for themselves, assesses whether they comply with the minimum requirements of SB 1765, and identifies aspects of the drug company rules that are deeply problematic.

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