Call Your State Legislators TODAY!
These critical bills will not only help improve California’s health care system, but will also help pave the way for further important provisions included in the recently passed national health care reform law and help keep the private insurance industry honest! But the insurance industry is hard at work urging legislators in the Assembly and Senate to oppose these bills. Here’s how you can help!
TAKE ACTION
1.FIND YOUR LEGISLATORS: Click here and enter your zip code to find YOUR State Assemblymember and State Senator.
2. CALL YOUR ASSEMBYLMEMBER AND STATE SENATOR: Urge them and urge them to VOTE YES on these critical state implementation bills (see talking points/call script below):
In the State Assembly:
- AB2244 (Feuer): Progressively limits how much private insurers can charge families with children under 19 with so-called “pre-existing conditions” between now and 2014 - when Federal provisions prohibiting all premium differences kick-in.
- AB2578 (Jones): Requires approval from the Department of Managed Health Care OR Department of Insurance whenever private insurance companies attempt to increase the amount of premiums, co-payments, coinsurance, deductibles or other charges under a health plan.
- AB1602 (Perez): Creates the California Cooperative Health Insurance Purchasing Exchange (Cal-CHIPE) and implements a variety of other important provisions of the national health care reform law - including extensions allowing children to be covered by their parents’ plans until age 26.
In the State Senate:
- SB890 (Alquist & Steinberg): Makes purchasing health plans on the individual market easier by implementing many of the consumer protections in the Federal health care reform law early and includes a strong medical loss ratio so more premium dollars are going to patient care (instead of profits!).
- SB900 (Alquist & Steinberg): Establishes the California Health Insurance Exchange and creates the California Health Insurance Exchange Fund and enables the Exchange to use its bargaining power to negotiate better prices and values for consumers in the exchange.
- SB1163 (Leno): Rate Reviews - Would require health plans to provide, in writing, specific reasons for denial of coverage or for charging higher than the standard rates for coverage.
3. LET US KNOW HOW IT WENT: Click here to send us a call report!
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SUGGESTED TALKING POINTS:
I’m calling because I want to make sure that [YOUR ASSEMBLYMEMBER/SENATOR] is going to vote YES on the important health reform implementation bills that are coming up for a vote on the floor this week.
Given the severity of California’s health care crisis, it’s absolutely critical that California act this year on these bills to implement-and improve-health reform and to provide new important consumer protections to Californians.
[IF YOU HAVE A PERSONAL STORY, FEEL FREE TO SHARE IT - OR, IF YOU FEEL PARTICULARLY STRONG ABOUT ANY OF THE BILLS, EXPLAIN WHY, USING YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES!]
Federal health reform provides new opportunities for California to make our health system better. I hope [YOUR ASSEMBLYMEMBER/SENATOR] will support this full list of bills to provide important relief for California consumers and communities.
