California Health Insurance Mandate, Voted No

The Senate Health Committee voted against the bill that would have required all Californians to purchase health insurance. The bill, AB X1 1, was scheduled for vote last wednesday, but then delayed until Monday.

The committee was concerned about the spending in the bill, as well as the mandate that would require people to purchase health insurance they may not be able to afford.

The bill would have also required employers to purchase health insurance. The bill did have some good parts in it, but I guess the committee felt the good did not outweigh the bad.

Arnold, speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle, said "I'm not taking 'no' for an answer, we've come a long way to get as far as we have... this is the last mile."

It seemed pretty certain last wednesday that there was not enough support for the bill to get past the committee. Sure, California may need health insurance reform, but how about a bill without the mandate.

The bill had so many different provisions in it. Maybe they can make the bills not so lengthy, and pass the parts everyone agrees on.

California Mandatory Health Insurance Vote Delayed until Monday

UPDATE: Originally the vote was scheduled for Wednesday, but Perata requested it be delayed until Monday.

Arnold's bill for mandatory health insurance in California is up for vote is now delayed until Monday. However, there is a key senator, Leland Yee, that opposes the bill, so it probably won't pass.

The law, AB X1 1, would require all Californians to purchase health insurance, with no caps on premiums, no regulation of the costs of insurance or medical expenses, no maximum deductibles, and no floor on how little coverage you must purchase. If you do not purchase insurance, the State would collect premiums by garnishment of wages or mortgage liens.

Senator Leland Yee joins the Senate Health Committee Chair, Kuehl in opposing the bill. Here is an excerpt from Yee's press release about what he thinks of the bill.

“AB X1 1 doesn’t provide care, but rather just requires individuals to purchase insurance without specifics on how to contain costs,” said Yee.  “It is unethical to garnish someone’s wages or place a lien on their mortgage because they can’t afford to purchase insurance.  This bill is like telling someone who is in need of help, 'I'm going to give you food, but I'm going to take away your clothes.'

AB X1 1 is also opposed by the California Nurses Association, United Food and Commercial Workers, Communication Works of America, League of Woman Voters, the Teamsters, Gray Partners, California School Employees Association and others.

The Senate Health Committee will be holding the hearing on AB X1 1.

Tool for Comparing California Auto Insurance

The California Department of Insurance created a tool for comparing auto insurance rates. The premiums shown are based on a CDI automobile premium survey. The results are not premium quotes, but is provided to encourage Californians to shop around for insurance.

The tool asks if you want standard or liability coverage, where you live, your sex, how long you have been licensed, miles you drive a year, driving record for 3 years, and vehicle type. I noticed they do not have many vehicles to choose from, but you could select a vehicle that is most similar to yours.

I ran a few tests to see how rates varied depending on a few factors. I wanted see how much difference driving experience and sex made.

I selected standard, Los Angeles Hollywood-West, Male, 3-5 driving experience, 7,600-10,000 miles, no violations or accidents, Honda Accord.
Rates are high. $2,000 - $7,000.
Rates are very similar for female.

When I changed to driving experience 16-40 years, Rates were much lower. $1,000 - 4,000.

I put 16-40 years driving experience, and 1 At-fault accident and rates go up 1,500 - 5,000.

These are not premium quotes, but good indicators of the differences in premiums charged by insurance companies. The rates did vary depending on the criteria I put in, but I was also surprised how much the rates varied from different insurers, assuming this tool is somewhat accurate.

CA Insurance Commissioner wants to Fine Blue Cross

The SFGate just reported that California's insurance commissioner wants a 12.6 million penalty against Blue Shield. The commissioner claims Blue Shield unfairly canceled members policies and improperly processed claims. The insurance department revealed more than 1,200 violations of law, resulting in more than 200 people loosing coverage after submitting claims. The state department has already fined Blue Cross 1.2 Million previously. Now, Blue Cross is upset with the excessive fines and thinks the state is being unfair.

Blue Cross may be upset, but I bet the 200 members with canceled policies is upset as well. I don't know how this fight will turn out, but I've known of auto insurance companies canceling policies for getting a DWI, and what people did was they just switched companies. If Blue Cross wants to lose business, then they cancel policies. At the end of the day, they make money, no matter who they insure. If they want to cancel policies, and try to maximize profit, then that's not a very good business model.

Insurance companies shouldn't cancel policies for both business and moral reasons. They make money at the end of the day. They do not need so-and-so telling their friends they were canceled. No matter how big they are. All it takes is one competitor advertising more than them, and they take over the market. Insurers all have different business models, but their business model should focus on taking care of their clients. They have enough people that pay for insurance that they never use. It's obvious some people will need the insurance.

Let's go back in time. Why was insurance invented in the first place? Was it invented so insurance companies could make money? Nope. It was first invented for cargo ships, so that cargo ships could go about their business without worrying they would wreck their ships. Everyone put money in to the insurance company, and if someone wrecked their ship, then the other cargo ships money would cover the ship lost. That's what insurance is for. If I'm paying for insurance, and I never use it. I want it at least to cover people that need it.

The bottom line should be: Don't cancel policies, unless the member is committing fraud. If Blue Cross thinks this fine is unfair then I think they need to explain exactly why they canceled the policies. They are a leading insurance company in California and need to set the example. I'm also curious what kind of plans they were, and if they were prescription drug plans.

AAA of Northern California lowers rates 6.5%

California Insurance Commissioner, Steve Poizner, approved a major auto insurance rate reduction of 6.5% for AAA of Northern California which will result on $100,536,590 in savings for policyholders according to the announcement at the California Department of Insurance. AAA of Northern California is the sixth largest auto insurer in the state, insuring almost one million drivers in California.

Policyholders can expect to save an average of $106 per policy and the new rate goes into effect December 15th. More than 1/2 a million policy holders are in the San Francisco Bay Area and approximately 156,00 policyholders in Sacramento area.

AAA has also filed to become 100% compliant with the auto rating regulations almost one year before than the mandated deadline. Under the new regulations, rates will be based on driving record, number of miles driven, and years of driving experience. The old regulations were influenced by other rating factors such as marital status, gender and zip code.

AAA and all other auto insurance companies that have complied with these new rating factors, prior to the deadline, have been applauded.

Declaration of Insurance Emergency Issued in California

Steve Poizner, the California Insurance Commissioner, issued an emergency declaration to help speed up the claims process from the aftermath of the S. California fire storms.

The proclamation will allow CDI-licensed insurance adjusters and insurers to use the services of non-CDI licensed adjusters, such as those from out-of-state, to assist with the multitude of insurance claims arising from the fire storms.

The work from the non-CDI-licensed adjusters must be under the active direction, control, charge, or management of a CDI-licensed insurer or adjuster.

Read full press release. Read text of declaration.

California Health Care Quality Report

We all know how important it is to have quality healthcare, and this information may help you be more informed about making your healthcare choices in California.

California's Office of the Patient Advocate (OPA) released it's annual report card on health care quality. There you can see how your Health Plans (HMO & PPO), Doctors and Medical Groups, Long-Term Care and Hospitals rate on care. HMO ratings are based on meeting national standards of care and how their members rate their HMO. You can also compare the ratings for asthma care, diabetes care, heart care, maternity care & more. HMOs receive from 1 to 4 stars. To view the Medical Group Ratings you select your county and it gives you list of medical groups with their ratings.

If you wish to compare hospitals in your area, go to calhospitalcompare.org and type your county, city, or zip code. You can then check up to 5 hospitals and select compare.

California Health Insurance Bill, AB1324 signed

I recently posted about a health bill that was on the California governor's desk.

This weekend, the bill, AB 1324, was signed. This bill requires health plans to justify rescinding policies to the Department of Insurance or Department of Managed Health Care. Health plans also may not recover the costs of claims for care provided unless they can prove consumers purposely deceived them to obtain coverage.

He signed and vetoed many bills over the weekend, for more information about all the different bills, you can go to California progress report.

I think it's good news that he signed AB 1324. It's great bill and as mentioned in my previous post about this bill, this bill will help fix health insurance in California. I don't know much about the other bills, but this was the main health bill I was concerned about.

New bill may fix California's health insurance

While leaders in California have been working toward proving health insurance coverage to more Californians, the current system has had major flaws. HMOs and insurance companies have been canceling policies when people get sick, leaving patients with the medical bills.

The SFGate reported on a new bill that may fix health care in California. The new bill, AB1324, makes it clear that health insurance companies can not cancel policies and leave patients stranded when they need health coverage the most. The bill passed out with overwhelming bipartisan support in both houses, and is now on Gov. Schwarzenegger's desk awaiting his signature.

California next state for Mandatory Health Insurance?

Recently Massachusetts created a bill that required all people to have health insurance in their state. Could California be next? It looks like Schwarzenegger just outlined his plan. I'm quite curious how mandatory health insurance has affected people in Mass. Did everyone actually get health insurance? How do people get in trouble for not having health insurance? If you get pulled over, do they arrest you if you can't prove you have health insurance & car insurance? What kind of fines must you pay if you don't have a health plan? I would be interested to hear from people in Mass, and what people think of this in California. Quite frankly, I agree with a writer at LA times, when he said Making health insurance mandatory, isn't reform.

I believe it's important to have health insurance, but if you don't have it, it's not really affecting others, so you don't really hurt other people. Are they really looking after our best interests? Maybe they should ban unhealthy foods instead? Rather than requiring people to have health insurance, maybe they should try to make it more affordable so people can have a choice to buy it or not. Most people would like to have a health plan, so making it more affordable to those that can not afford it, would be a better plan, I think. So who would like to have health insurance mandatory in California? According to a post at a california health insurance blog, Kaiser Permanente HMO likes the proposal, and what health insurance company wouldn't enjoy health insurance being mandatory?