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A starting place for citizen advocacy |
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FCL ACTION ALERTS Still time to stop the insurance juggernaut! Your help is requested Dear FCL Supporter, On Wednesday, the Senate Health Committee held a marathon hearing on the Schwarzenegger-Nunez-Perata health care plan known as AB X1 1. FCL took an “oppose unless amended” position on the previous version of the bill, AB 8, which was vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger (See "Health care debate heats up," FCL Newsletter, May-June 2007). Specifically, we were concerned that the bill contains an individual mandate which shifts risk from the collective to individuals without adequately addressing affordability. In other words, individuals would be required to purchase insurance policies that they could not afford, policies that do not guarantee consumers health care, because of high deductibles, co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs. Regretfully, AB X1 1 does not adequately address this concern, and so FCL joins with California Church IMPACT, the League of Women Voters, California, the Gray Panthers, California Physicians Alliance and others in opposing AB X1 1. Consider the following: AB X1 1 contains an individual mandate that requires you to have insurance without making sure that it is affordable. If your employer offers coverage, you must take your employer's plan (either private insurance or the public pool) or purchase insurance in the individual market. While the bill increases subsidies for the poor, it does nothing to help the middle class. It exempts those with incomes up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level ($53,000 per year for a family of four) if their premiums exceed five percent of income ($2, 650 per year in this example). While there are tax credits for incomes between 250 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level ($84,800 for a family of four), they apply to premiums only. Neither the subsidies nor the tax credits take co-pays, deductibles or other out-pocket-costs into consideration. Insurance plans are already moving towards lower premium-high deductible policies which prevent people from obtaining health care because they cannot afford the deductibles and co-pays. AB X1 1 would encourage more of these bare-bones policies, and those who are exempted are left without health insurance. AB X1 1 lacks transparency and accountability. It is unclear what benefits insurers would have to provide or how much consumers would have to pay. Are maternity benefits, prescription drug coverage and preventive coverage included in the minimum coverage required by the mandate? What are the maximum levels of deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses that individuals would be required to pay? AB X1 1 punts these decisions to the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board (MRMIB), to be made at a later date. MRMIB’s members are political appointees who are not accountable to the public. AB X1 1 does not offer consumer’s choice. Employees whose employers offer coverage would be required to take whatever coverage their employer offers or buy their own insurance in the individual market, where they have no leverage. They cannot opt in to the public pool. AB X1 1 protects businesses and insurance companies, but not consumers. While it requires a two-thirds vote by the Legislature to increase employer contributions for health insurance (a sliding scale between 1 percent and 6.5 percent of payroll), premiums, co-pays and deductibles could be raised by MRMIB after providing 60 days public notice. There is an alternative proposal that provides universal health care that is affordable and offers comprehensive benefits. It is argued by some health care advocates that single-payer (SB 840) is “utopian” because it requires the approval of eight Republican votes. In fact, ABX 1 1’s financing also requires eight Republican votes, and that is why its financing is being proposed in a separate ballot initiative that bypasses the legislative process. Granted, the governor vetoed SB 840 last year, but a new governor could sign it. It is also argued that AB X1 1 takes us a step closer to single-payer. The enactment of the Massachusetts health care plan, with its individual mandate and similar provisions, suggests that it encourages elected officials to take the path of least resistance and to settle for a vastly inferior product in the interest of short-term gain. TAKE ACTION NOW! Therefore, we ask you to contact Senator Perata and the following Members of the Senate Health Committee (especially if you live in their district) who are undecided to voice your opposition to AB X1 1 between now and Monday. Faxes and phone calls are preferred. Senate President pro Tem Don Perata Sincerely yours, |
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