Howdy all...

It's been 10 months since my last post here at Dag...

Here is the latest in California with the state's ongoing implementation of the Affordable Health Care Act.

It would also be interesting to hear what's going on in other states' local legislative processes and implementation of the Act.

The following bullet points found at California Progress Organization are taken from a report by Anthony Wright, the Executive Director of Health Access California, the statewide health care consumer advocacy coalition of over 200 groups.

These are bills that  are currently heading to the Governor's desk for his signature.

• STREAMLINING ELIGIBILITY AND ENROLLMENT: AB1296 (Bonilla) requires the California Health and Human Services Agency to establish a standardized single application form and related renewal procedures for Medi-Cal, the Healthy Families Program, the Exchange, and county programs. This is a crucial piece of legislation that sets a framework so that millions of Californians gain meaningful and easy access to coverage as the Affordable Care Act is implemented.

• IMPROVING CONSUMER ASSISTANCE: AB922 (Monning) improves the Office of Patient Advocate to provide better assistance to California health care consumers by providing a central, enhanced center to handle questions and complaints, and for them to be triaged to the appropriate agencies, whether regulatory or administrative, state or federal, etc. The bill also transfers the Office of Patient Advocate, and the Department of Managed Health Care, to the Health and Human Services Agency.

Improving Consumer Protections and Insurer Oversight: Two more measures adopting consumer protections that are, or will be, required by the federal Affordable Care Act.

• GUARANTEEING MATERNITY COVERAGE: SB222 (Evans/Alquist) & AB210 (Hernandez) requires that health plans sold in the individual and small group markets, respectively, stop discriminating against women and provide as a basic benefit, maternity care and maternity-related care, starting in July 2012. This would get Californians needed care and prevent them from falling onto taxpayer-funded programs, but also would allow for a smoother phase-in to the federal requirement that maternity be included in an essential benefits package in 2014.

• REQUIRING PREMIUM DOLLARS TO BE SPENT ON HEALTH CARE: SB51 (Alquist) implements the Medical Loss Ration provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurers in the large group market to spend 85% of premium dollars on health care and insurers in the small group and individual markets to spend 80% of health care dollars on actually providing health care rather than for administration or profit.

Also Of Interest: Some budget-related bills of interest to health advocates included:

• COVERAGE FOR KIDS, ABx1 21 and ABx1 30 (Blumenfield) are budget trailer bills that would maintain funding for children's coverage by extending a Managed Care Organization (MCO) tax, which in turn will help bring down federal dollars to fund Healthy Families. These bills also prohibit, for one year, the immediate shift of the Healthy Families population into Medi-Cal, a budget proposal by the Governor that raised some concerns, especially if implemented hastily.

You may wish to read the entire article here: "Key Health/Consumer Bills Reach Governor's Desk"

Also: You can access additional info and articles of interest at: the Health Access California blog.

Thanks for the space to post

See you all later folks.


~OGD~