Dear Legislators, Few services are more important than medical services yet due to efforts by the politically-active doctors' lobby to limit supply, Californians have not always been able to get immediate access to such services. Your passage of AB 890 (Wood) in 2020 was a big step towards improving that environment but more must be … Continue reading Manufactured Medical Shortages
Category: Healthcare
Burying The Lede
We looked high and low for an article that exposed the poison pill buried in Section 100610 of AB 1400, a single-payer measure recently proposed and withdrawn in the California State Assembly, but found none. That’s worrisome. Typical single-payer systems are not governed by boards dominated by providers as called for by Section 100610, which … Continue reading Burying The Lede
AB 1400
Dear Legislators, >90 percent of Californians have health insurance. To reach 100 percent, Governor Newsom proposes expanding Medi-Cal to all income-eligible residents, which would turn California into a multi-payer universal coverage system not unlike the systems of Netherlands and most of Europe.* In contrast, three state legislators have introduced AB 1400, a bill to establish … Continue reading AB 1400
A Medicare Approach For CA Schools
Whenever I use Medicare, the government pays a health provider of my choice even if the provider is not operated by the government. The same goes for Medicaid, which uses public funds to pay for the care of 15 million Californians. Likewise, anyone obtaining premium support through Covered California gets to choose among insurance providers. … Continue reading A Medicare Approach For CA Schools
SFUSD Ignores Millions In Federal Funds
San Francisco Unified School District spends up to 250% more than the average CA school district on OPEB, which are insurance subsidies for retired employees. That's because SFUSD is one of the few districts to subsidize retirees on Medicare. And because SFUSD doesn't take advantage of generous federal subsidies available under Obamacare for retirees under … Continue reading SFUSD Ignores Millions In Federal Funds
Covered California Stands Out Again
November 1 marked the commencement of the Open Enrollment period during which residents can purchase health insurance for the upcoming year and another opportunity to praise Covered California, the state’s healthcare exchange that’s an exemplar of government services well provided. At a time when even the New York Times is cynical about blue state performance, … Continue reading Covered California Stands Out Again
Democracy In California
If ever you needed a reminder that our nation has always been a confederation of diverse states united only when facing a common enemy, re-read Democracy In America, Alexis de Tocqueville's 1835 masterpiece. There are twenty-four small sovereign nations, whose agglomeration constitutes the body of the Union.Tocqueville, Alexis De. Democracy in America, Volume I and … Continue reading Democracy In California
Corporate Donors To California Lawmakers
This year California will devote more than $120 billion to Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid that serves more than one of every three residents. That means big profits for Managed Care Organizations such as Anthem, Molina and Centene. We have nothing against profits but a lot against conflicts of interest. Under California law, Medicaid … Continue reading Corporate Donors To California Lawmakers
Towards Universal Coverage In California
Dear Legislators, We are pleased that 94% of Californians now have health coverage. We’d love to see that figure rise to 100%. Multi-payer universal coverage systems such as those that dominate continental Europe and towards which California is marching can work extremely well. But one big difference is that European systems do a better job … Continue reading Towards Universal Coverage In California
Covering CA’s Undocumented
Dear Legislators, 92 percent of Californians have insurance coverage. The eight percent who don't are primarily undocumented residents. CA has sufficient ongoing resources to cover them. Concerns about covering the undocumented have centered on the risk that a new program, estimated to cost $3 billion per year, would add to the state's structural deficit. But … Continue reading Covering CA’s Undocumented