HealthCareForAmericaNow - California

Last Friday, Anthem Blue Cross stated they are going ahead with yet another unjustified rate hike on California consumers. This time around, Anthem proposed rate increases averaging 16% — which also includes higher deductibles and co-pays for an estimated 120,000 Californians…even after regulators at the California Department of Managed Care (DMHC) declared the rate hike “unreasonable.”

Anthem’s latest attempt to raise health care premiums is just another example of why California MUST pass critical consumer and small business protections like AB 52 (Feuer) - which would empower state regulators to REJECT excessive rate hikes!

In a recent editorial for the LA Times, columnist George Skelton made a powerful case for why California must pass this important consumer protection bill. Skelton’s editorial, which references Health Care America Now’s national work to protect consumers and expose big-insurance’s profits, highlights the growing need to check insurance industry abuses - including attempts to impose outrageous rate-hikes on to California consumers.

You can help take a stand up against insurance industry abuse and show your support by writing a letter to the editor of your local paper in support of AB 52 - legislation that would empower state regulators to REJECT excessive rate hikes. Click here to get started!

The Los Angeles Times’ editorial board has also endorsed AB52 - calling it an important measure to “combat the cycle of ever-increasing premiums” by making the health insurance market comparable to that of auto-insurance or homeowners insurance by giving regulators the opportunity to scrutinize attempts to raise rates unjustifiably.

Meanwhile, HCAN-CA’s lead state partner, Health Access California, continues to organize and advocate in the statewide effort to organize support for AB52, legislation that helps prevent insurance companies from going ahead with unfair or unjustified rate hikes that make health coverage financially out of reach for families and individuals.

Your voice matters! Click here to write a letter to the editor of your local paper and show your support for comprehensive consumer protections against outrageous insurance industry abuses!

The Affordable Care Act represented an important first step in controlling health care costs and reducing the worst insurance industry abuses. Now we have an opportunity to go EVEN FURTHER and take the next critical step in protecting consumers and businesses form outrageous rate hikes!

Make your own personal case for controlling outrageous rate hikes and voice your support for AB52! Click here to get started!

Thanks to EVERYONE who made calls to their State Senators and State Assemblymembers over the last few weeks in support of the critical State implementation and consumer protection bills.

We generated more than 5,000 calls to legislative offices - and the results of this tremendous effort speak for themselves!

On Tuesday, the legislature passed the following bills (the last day of the legislative session):

* AB2470(De La Torre) on Eliminating Rescissions
* SB890(Alquist), to Standardize Benefits to Allow for Better Comparisons of Plans
* SB1163(Leno), to Provide 60 Day Notice and Transparency on Rate Hikes

Bills past last week include:

* AB1602 (Perez) & SB900 (Alquist), to Create a New Health Insurance Exchange
* SB56 (Alquist), to Foster New Public Health Insurance Options
* AB1825 (De La Torre), to Phase-In Maternity Coverage as a Basic Benefit
* AB1600 (Beall), to Require Mental Health Parity in Health Coverage
* AB2244 (Feuer), to Limit Premiums for Children with Pre-existing Conditions
* SB1088 (Price), to Allow Young Adults up to Age 26 To Stay on Parental Coverage
* AB2042 (Feuer),to Limit Rate Hikes and Changes to Once a Year
* AB1503 (Lieu), to Prevent ER Doctor Overcharges for the Uninsured
* AB542 (Feuer), to Prevent Medi-Cal Payment for “Never Event” Medical Errors

(Source: Health Access WeBlog)

Only one important consumer protection bill remains - AB 2578 (Jones) - introducing important oversight and regulations for when insurance companies try to raise our rates!

In the coming weeks, critical state implementation and consumer protections bills calling for improved regulations of the private insurance industry will go to the floor for a vote. These important bills will not only help boost the provisions outlined in the new Federal health law, but will also allow us to go even further in protecting hard-working Californians against private insurance industry abuse & bad practices.

Your stories are the most powerful examples of why we need to pass these vital State implementation bills that improve insurance industry regulations! Here in California, with more than 7 million people uninsured - and millions more inadequately insured under “junk” policy plans - we cannot let up and let opponents defeat this critical opportunity to make the most of the new health law and improve our healthcare here in California!

If you’ve ever:

• Purchased “junk” insurance, or realized your insurance plan didn’t cover the things you needed;
• Paid high out-of-pocket costs;
• Were hit with high rate increases;
• Were hit with high out-of-network charges;
• Had your child denied care due to “pre-existing conditions”

Click here to share your story today!

As we’ve seen time and again - the insurance industry wants nothing to do with reforming our nation’s broken health care system to make it better, more affordable and more accessible for millions of Americans. In fact, they’ve gone to great lengths to oppose it - including spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a misinformation campaign to discredit the new law and working behind the scenes to obstruct it’s implementation at every step of the way.

Here in California, there are several critical state implementation bills that will ensure that Californians get the most out of the new health care law. Many of these also call for increased oversight of the insurance industry, including:

• AB 2578 (Jones) - Would require approval by the Department of Managed Health Care OR the Department of Insurance whenever insurance companies attempt to raise premiums, co-payments, coinsurance, deductibles or other charges under a health plan.
• SB 1163 (Leno) - Would require health plans to provide, in writing, specific reasons for denial of coverage or for charging higher than standard rates of coverage.
• AB 2042 (Feuer) - Would prohibit insurers and HMOs from changing or increasing premiums, cost sharing or benefits more than once a year.

But even now that health reform is the law of the land, insurance industry giants like Anthem Blue Cross and Aetna are still trying to bleed hard-working Californians dry by unjustly and erroneously raising premiums. Perhaps most shocking is the arrogance in which these companies attempt to impose rate increases on California consumers in the individual market when their math is plagued with miscalculations and accounting errors.

But you can help end this, and other insurance industry abuses, by signing the HCAN-CA Petition today URGING State legislators to support these vital state implementation bills and protect California consumers!

Click here to sign today!