California Legislature takes up multiple health care bills

"More than a dozen health bills are advancing through the [California] Legislature," some of which contain elements of a health care overhaul plan backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) that passed the state Assembly but was rejected in the Senate earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Support for the bills among Republicans who opposed Schwarzenegger's plan is "a sign that a desire for piecemeal health care changes is strong this election year," according to the Times. Schwarzenegger's health care proposal in large part was rejected because it would have cost $14.9 billion at a time when the state faced a large deficit, but the bills gaining initial approval in the Legislature "now put most of their costs on the health care industry," the Times reports.

Bills being considered include measures that would require insurers to:

• Spend a minimum of 85% of premiums on patient care;
• Seek approval from state regulators to cancel the policy of a plan member who needs extensive medical care;
• Cover more procedures, such as maternity services and cleft palate surgeries;
• Publicly release price and quality-of-care data;
• Allow individual policyholders to compare competing plans and limit their maximum out-of-pocket costs; and
• Offer coverage of durable medical equipment, such as wheelchairs and oxygen tanks, for an additional charge.

Nicole Evans, a spokesperson for the California Association of Health Plans, said the urgency in approving the bills can be attributed to "a lot of pent-up interest and energy" generated by last year's focus on a health care overhaul. She added, "We think these bills are going to raise costs and, in the end, make the problem worse, not better."

Daniel Zingale, a senior adviser to Schwarzenegger, said the governor supports many of the ideas behind the bills and plans to introduce his own proposals in a few weeks. Zingale said, "This year, the first floor of health care reform will be built, and it will make current coverage more secure, control costs, promote prevention and end the worst of anti-consumer practices by HMOs" (Rau, Los Angeles Times, 6/3).