The Blog

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

The Wall Street Journal had this tragic story last week about a Merced man -- who was insured -- but still socked with a $1.2 million hospital bill (not counting thousands in doctor's office bills also).

What happened to Jim Dawson, of Merced, that landed with debt that could bankrupt him is a textbook example of what health consumer advocates have been fighting to reform for years.

Dawson had a good job with Valero Energy Corp., a big oil refinery. He had Valero-sponsored comprehensive health insurance policy, and a regular primary care physician who knew his medical history, *should* not have been vulnerable to medical-financial angst. That's at least what many think. But Dawson's story shows how anyone can be vulnerable.

Continue reading " A Big, Unfortunate and Expensive Illustration for Health Reform" »

Posted December 3, 2007 at 01:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

Shane Goldmacher at Capitol Alert has the scoop on the most recent developments:

The Assembly sessions for December 5th and 6th are now postponed. There was an issue that they conflicted with retreats with the Assembly and Senate Republican caucuses, and it seems they need more time in negotiating on health reform.

We've heard from various Assembly offices that the Speaker has asked members to be available within 24 hours notice.

Continue reading "At the Call of the Speaker" »

Posted November 29, 2007 at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

As health reform negotiations go on, I continue to be puzzled why the Governor has yet to publicly budge on having some--any--affordability standard for individuals in the context of a mandate. Any other politician, concerned about voter reaction, would not just include affordability in their plan, but lead with it. The presidential Democratic candidates, like Clinton, Obama, and Edwards, both provide assurances to voters than coverage will be affordable, both in terms of costs (tied to a percentage of their income), or in terms of benefits (for example, saying that people should have access to coverage as good as what Congress gets).

Some, like healthcare blogger Alan Katz, have criticized the notion of an affordability exemption--saying it undermines the point of a mandate. The Governor's team asks, "don't you want universal coverage?" Of course, but I think they misunderstand the point.

Continue reading "Not Just a Word, But a Challenge" »

Posted November 28, 2007 at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

The America's Health Insurance Plans is patting itself on the back for discovering that the majority of high-deductible health plans, which are connected to Health Savings Accounts, cover recommended preventive benefits -- meaning that patients can go in and get pap smears, well-baby visits, colonoscopies without having to pay full price for the office visit.

Okay... that's a good start. But what happens when your preventive screening shows you have Diabetes? Asthma? Breast Cancer? Then what?

Herein lies the problem. Actually, there are a couple problems.

Continue reading "And Then What?" »

Posted November 20, 2007 at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Betsy Imholz
Special Projects Director
Consumers Union

The era for public reporting of medical safety and cost data is now! That’s why transparency is a key piece of healthcare reform.

In a new survey from the esteemed Commonwealth Fund, three-fourths of health opinion leaders said that increased transparency about quality and price is important to improving the U.S. health system performance. More than 4 in 5 opinion leaders think that stimulating provider performance improvement activities is the key benefit of quality and price transparency.

Continue reading "The Need for Transparency in Healthcare Reform" »

Posted November 20, 2007 at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

For another time this year, the Assembly Health Committee Wednesday passed comprehensive health reform legislation aimed at expanding coverage to a significant swath of California’s 6.5 million uninsured. The newly reconstituted Assembly Health Committee voted on the first health reform bill of the special session, ABX1 1 (Nunez/Perata) and vowed to send the bill to its Senate counterpart by the end of the month. The bill passed on a 10-5 party-line vote.

Continue reading "One More Time, With Feeling" »

Posted November 15, 2007 at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

Earlier this week, Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) announced the framework of a new healthcare universal healthcare proposal.

Health Access California Executive Director Anthony Wright stayed up late to take an in-depth look at the framework, compared it to the vetoed AB 8 and offers his analysis. For anybody that wants to see the details before the legislative language is made available, check it out.

Continue reading "Nunez, Perata Offer New Proposal, AB X1 1" »

Posted November 8, 2007 at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

In preparation for the Wednesday hearing on the Governor's health reform, here's the Health Access California 15-page letter to the Governor with our issues.

The proposal isn't a bill, but most of the consumer, community, and constituency groups that I work with say they oppose the measure if there was no change... but we hope that by being clear about our concerns, it creates the conversation to get to a compromise that we can be actively in support.

Continue reading "Mailbag" »

Posted October 29, 2007 at 06:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

Aurelio Rojas in the Sacramento Bee has a terrific story about the young and uninsured, which Robert in Monterey at Calitics comments on extensively.

As we stated on this blog previously and in the article, twenty-somethings are the biggest slice of the uninsured, but it's not because they don't want coverage: it's that they are more likely to be low-income, to work at jobs that don't provide coverage, to not be eligible for public programs. When offered coverage, they take it up at similar rates as other age groups.

The question is whether we can offer coverage that is affordable, available, and administratively simple.

Continue reading "The Young and the Restless" »

Posted October 29, 2007 at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

Last week's 48-hour, candle light vigils were a great success. Held in six cities around the state -- Sacramento, San Francisco, Fresno, Riverside, Los Angeles and San Diego -- the vigils drew lots of interest from health advocates, and the local press.

Check out some of the local news reports below the fold.

Continue reading "IOH Vigils on the Tube" »

Posted October 24, 2007 at 02:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

Yesterday, the Department of Managed Health Care released a draft of proposed regulations to stop insurers from retroactively denying people for health coverage.

Because this is an informal comment process on "post-claims underwriting," the draft proposed regulation text is not posted to the Department’s web site. However, it was the subject of some press, by Lisa Girion in the Los Angeles Times, and Victoria Colliver in the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as California Healthline.

Continue reading "Underwritten" »

Posted October 24, 2007 at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

Wednesday at noon, the coalition kicked off 48-hour vigils for healthcare from Sacramento down to San Diego. Vigils are being held outside six district offices of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to continue to apply pressure him on healthcare.

Here in San Francisco, several members of the local clergy of various faiths spoke to the amassed crowd. Mayor Gavin Newsom spoke at the opening ceremony and lit a candle along with others in support of meaningful healthcare reform. Attendees also signed a large "reality check" for the Governor.

For more of the story, check below the fold.

Continue reading "Vigils for Healthcare Kick-Off Across the State" »

Posted October 18, 2007 at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (21) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

Below is a statement issued by the It's OUR Healthcare! coalition, correcting Tuesday's story in the Los Angeles Times.

Continue reading "Correcting the Record" »

Posted October 16, 2007 at 06:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

Health Access Executive Director Anthony Wright digested the 200-page proposal from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced at a press conference this week and produced a thorough critique of the plan.

Posted October 11, 2007 at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

We'll post our analysis shortly on the Governor's language... but one thing...

The Governor suggested yesterday that it is just the numbers left to negotiate. Actually, it's not just the numbers. There's still issues about the fundamental framework. It starts with an individual mandate, without condition, exception, or limit.

Continue reading "Not Just Numbers" »

Posted October 10, 2007 at 01:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

While the orphan “working draft” in unowned by any policymaker, it is remarkably similar to the Governor’s proposal, about which our opinion was mixed, liking many elements, but strongly objecting to other pieces—including the individual mandate without regard to whether coverage is available or affordable. Our preliminary analysis of the Governor's proposal, available on our website still holds up.

This “working draft” would have been appropriate for release in March or April, rather than October. However, we appreciate seeing the draft, to better engage in the dialogue. Insurance agent Alan Katz has posted the full document(!) of the orphaned legislative language on his health reform blog, along with his own commentary.

Continue reading "Comparing the Gov's Plan with the Unowned Legislative Language" »

Posted October 4, 2007 at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

This week, the game changed, and things got much more urgent and intense. And I am not just talking about the super-exciting Rockies-Padres game that ushered in the baseball post-season on Monday.

We have legislative language! Sort of.

Continue reading "Little Orphans" »

Posted October 3, 2007 at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

Two good stories over the weekend spotlight the impact of the President's SCHIP veto to California. Bill Ainsworth in the San Diego Union-Tribune and Barbara Anderson in the Fresno Bee report that potentially hundreds of thousands of children wil lose coverage, as well as the wrench it throws into our health care reform debate.

Beyond making clear the scale of the disruption, I tried to make the point in my quotes in these articles that there should be political ramifications, especially for the 18 California Congressional Representatives from California that voted against SCHIP.

Posted October 2, 2007 at 01:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

With the special session on healthcare now underway in Sacramento, Health Access has a lot of resources worth taking a look at. Check them out below the fold.

Continue reading "Survival Kit for the Special Session" »

Posted September 24, 2007 at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

The New York Times reports on a press conference this morning by President Bush, again threatening a veto on extension and expansion of the State Child Health Insurance Program.

He's right about the philosophical divide:

"What I'm describing here is a philosophical divide that exists in Washington over the best approach for health care. Democratic leaders in Congress want to put more power in the hands of government by expanding federal health care programs. Their S-CHIP plan is an incremental step toward the goal of government-run health care for every American."

Instead, President Bush is seeking to disenroll children and leave them uninsured.

Continue reading "Kicking Kids Off Coverage" »

Posted September 20, 2007 at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

With the legislature in extra innings to work on healthcare and water issues following Governor Schwarzenegger's call for a special session, Assembly Republicans and Democrats named their starting lineups working on healthcare reform in the last few days.

Health Access California's Anthony Wright provided us with the names.

Continue reading "The Starting Line-Ups in the Assembly" »

Posted September 17, 2007 at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

It drives me nuts that the Governor's team is allowed to get away with saying that their plan "covers everybody." It is simply not true.

Their own modeling leaves out 800,000 Californians.

More than that, there is another 1,000,000 Californians are not "covered." They are simply required to buy coverage in the individual market. These are folks that are not getting any assistance whatsoever, including from their employer, or from a public program. They are being forced to buy coverage, and will probably can't afford anything--and if they can, it would be a high-deductible plan. That requirement, without any subsidy or even the power of group purchasing--that's not a benefit, that's a burden.

Continue reading "Governor: Read Your Proposal" »

Posted September 13, 2007 at 12:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

Frank Russo at the California Progress Report and Bill Ainsworth at the San Diego Union Tribune have some good tidbits about the special session.

Here's Frank:

Continue reading "Isn't That Special?" »

Posted September 12, 2007 at 01:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

As I write this at 6:45pm, Speaker Nunez is establishing the 1st Extraordinary Session for the purpose of considering comprehensive health reform.

It's interesting that they are quickly going through the motions of re-electing the Speaker, re-establishing the rules of the Assembly, etc. They are also establishing a 2nd Extraordinary Session on water issues.

It's the Governor's job to call a special session, and the Legislature's to schedule and run the session. Here's the Governor's proclamation:

Continue reading "It's Extraordinary" »

Posted September 11, 2007 at 06:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

Just took a gander at the Health Affairs blog, which is chock full of reports and analyses on the SCHIP debate in Washington, DC.

While we debate historic expansions at the state level, we are facing the possibility of a remarkable contraction at the federal level. If SCHIP is not reauthorized, or even reauthorized at current levels, the state's Healthy Families program will at some point in the near future stop enrolling children (and create waiting lists), or start kicking them off. It's not a pretty picture.

Continue reading " Letting the SCHIPs Fall?" »

Posted September 10, 2007 at 11:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

The state legislature is down to its final days of the session and Blue Cross alerted their list of insurance agent supporters that current reforms on the table are "unhealthy." (And the status quo isn't?)

If you're sick of groups like Blue Cross standing in the way of healthcare reform, then you'll love our new animated video released today at www.SickOfBlueCross.com/BrightSide. We're asking Californians to watch the video and sign our petition and tell Blue Cross: "Don't stand in the way of reform!"

Continue reading "Always Look on the Bright Side of Death" »

Posted September 6, 2007 at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

By Susan Griff
Oak Park

(Editor's Note: IOH supporter Susan Griff received a letter from Blue Cross about their plans in pushing 'responsible' healthcare reform and writes about the other kinds of letters she gets from the state's largest health insurer. --Matt Ortega)

Blue Cross recently sent out a letter to their customers. It starts by stating they support “affordable coverage for all Californians.” But at the end of the letter, they warn that “we can’t rush” healthcare reform or we might “break what is working.”

This reminds me of another letter I routinely get from Blue Cross.

Continue reading "Blue Cross Writes Letters" »

Posted September 5, 2007 at 01:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

Sandy Kleffman of the Contra Costa Times had an in-depth story over the Labor Day weekend on hospital billing and "charity care" practices. It's an important reminder about what hospitals' responsibilities should be to respond to the needs of their communities.

A companion story couples these issues with the plague of underinsurance. A douple whammy.

Continue reading "The Biggest Bill You'll Ever Get" »

Posted September 4, 2007 at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

By Lupe Alonzo-Diaz
Executive Director
Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC)

Healthcare reform has stopped being just another day at the office. It’s now personal.

My mother has worked hard all her life, but now finds herself without any healthcare coverage. It’s a shame that someone who dedicated her life to being a good Californian and labored at jobs that no one else wants, now finds herself without health insurance.

Continue reading "Reforming Healthcare for Our Families" »

Posted August 31, 2007 at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Elizabeth Sholes
Director of Public Policy
California Churches IMPACT

Clergy, health ministries, faith nurses, and members of congregations are on the front lines of our state’s health care crisis. We serve our own members in desperate need of health coverage through in-church clinics, advice on health services, and occasionally financial assistance. We also serve those in our communities in the same desperate straits.

For people of faith, health care is a right and a moral obligation for all. Christians, for example, know that when Jesus healed the sick, he did not ask for proof of insurance, and pre-existing conditions were definitely his specialty!

Continue reading "Jesus Didn't Ask for Proof of Insurance" »

Posted August 31, 2007 at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

By Jan from Anaheim

(Editor's Note: This is an open letter response to John Seiler, former Orange County Register columnist that commented on a recent print ad placed by the It's OUR Healthcare campaign that featured Jan's healthcare story.)

John,

I’m sure you and I have different opinions about any number of things, but a civilized debate of opposing views is a good thing. As a former editorial writer for my hometown paper, you would probably agree.

But I take personal offense to your recent blog post (“Register ad pushes socialized medicine” – a provocative, if not very accurate title).

Why would you start by questioning my story, ailment and treatment?

Continue reading "Attacking the Victim" »

Posted August 30, 2007 at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

What I found interesting/sad about the census report released yesterday is this: While incomes are nudging upwards, the number of people with insurance is falling.

It seems counterintuitive -- that as more people broke into the ranks of middle-income earners, they'd be guaranteed coverage. But in fact, that is what we are fighting now. It's not just low-income who are being left behind, it's the middle-income as well.

Continue reading "Diverging Paths" »

Posted August 29, 2007 at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

(John Arensmeyer, founder and CEO of Small Business for Affordable Healthcare recently wrote about poll findings that show, contrary to conventional wisdom, small businesses support healthcare reform. John R. Graham, Director of Health Care Studies at the Pacific Research Institute, mischaracterized the data. Mr. Arensmeyer's response can be found below. --Matt Ortega)

I am sorry that Mr. Graham finds our poll to be “strange” and the results “bizarre.” It is the only known scientific poll of small business owners and managers across California, and the results speak for themselves. All 506 randomly-selected small business owners who were polled responded in full to the survey (not half as Mr. Graham asserts), resulting in a +/- 4% margin of error. The same cannot be said for surveys of self-selected members of advocacy organizations that are often trotted out as representative samples of California’s 3.2 million small business owners.

Continue reading "Correcting the Critics" »

Posted August 29, 2007 at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

By Steve Blackledge
Legislative Director
CalPIRG

It's like the bad David Spade commercial where he repeatedly yells "no, no, no" into the phone to his customers. In this case, it's health insurance companies saying "no, no, no" to potential customers because of their health problems.

It's a good way to maximize profits. Deny coverage to people who have had health problems, insure the people who appear on paper to be healthy, and then laugh all the way to the bank.

Continue reading "You're Denied!" »

Posted August 29, 2007 at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By John Arensmeyer
Founder & CEO
Small Business Majority

In stark contrast to the reflexive, ideologically-driven, anti-reform position articulated by traditional business advocacy organizations, a recent poll shows that, in fact, small businesses across California overwhelmingly support comprehensive health care reform, with substantial support for two of the leading reform proposals pending in Sacramento. The survey was released earlier this week by Small Business for Affordable Healthcare, a new coalition of California small business owners.

Key findings from the survey are:

Continue reading "New Poll Shows California Small Businesses Back Comprehensive Health Care Reform" »

Posted August 28, 2007 at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

So, it's official. If no positive health expansions are passed, Governor Schwarzenegger's "year of health reform" will actually take us backwards in terms of Californians' access to care, given these budget cuts.

In addition to the cuts that we have highlighted here, I would be remiss to not mention the most cruel cut--the $55 million cut to aid the mentally ill homeless, for what all accounts is an effective, humane programs that provides savings in the long term. Both Frank Russo and Bill Bradley point out how the Republican forces this cut while fighting for a $45 million yacht tax credit.

Continue reading "Still Angry" »

Posted August 25, 2007 at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

Another point about the Governor's comments to the Sacramento Bee editorial board, where he said he won't sign a less-than-comprehensive bill: "I won't sign it. It won't happen. Because we will never have a chance again to go back and cover the rest."

Does that mean he won't sign his own plan?

The Administration's own modeling, done by MIT Professor Jonathan Gruber, leaves close to a million Californians not covered. There's a vague hope that the counties would cover those Californians, but there's no requirement or proposal for that to happen.

Continue reading "Fact Check #2" »

Posted August 23, 2007 at 03:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

AB8 (Nunez) was heard in Senate Appropriations Committee today, and placed on suspense.

The Governor said to the Sacramento Bee editorial board that he won't sign AB8, or a bill that "has only employer mandate," he said. "I won't sign it. It won't happen. Because we will never have a chance again to go back and cover the rest."

Read the bill, Governor.

Continue reading "Read the Bill, Governor" »

Posted August 22, 2007 at 06:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

Breaking news from Sacramento: The Senate passed the state budget by a vote of 27-13, ending the 52-day stand-off at the Capitol.

With the budget finally out of the way, health advocates must continue to push and prod our leaders in Sacramento to skip the celebratory happy hours and get right back to work on passing real healthcare reform this year.

Posted August 21, 2007 at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Betsy Imholz
Special Projects Director
Consumers Union

Maybe so, but having health insurance doesn’t mean having health coverage. That’s what we found in talking to Americans around the country. A new survey by Consumer Reports’ National Research Center of a nationally representative sample of consumers found that 29 percent of us, a quarter of the population, are “underinsured.”

These are people who have health insurance – but it’s not good enough, and it’s expensive to use. That leads to choices like putting off needed medical care because of the cost (56%), digging deep into savings to pay medical bills (33%), and struggling to pay for medicines that insurance doesn’t cover adequately (63%).

Continue reading "Got Insurance?" »

Posted August 21, 2007 at 01:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

With just four weeks left of the 2007 session, time is slipping away for lawmakers to pass health care reform.

Legislators are back today from summer "recess'' and there's STILL no budget.

The It's OUR Healthcare! coalition today launched two TV ads aimed at getting lawmakers to focus on health care reform (this year) and a number of newspapers printed stories and columns the past few days reminding lawmakers that there's not much time left.

Continue reading "The Clock Starts Today" »

Posted August 20, 2007 at 03:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

This morning at a press conference at the State Capitol in Sacramento, the It's OUR Healthcare! campaign announced the release of several new television and print advertisements.

The ads focus on the issue of affordability because it's not real healthcare unless we can afford to use it.

Watch the new ads below the fold.

Continue reading "IOH Unveils Television and Print Ads" »

Posted August 20, 2007 at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

Consumer Reports' latest issue surveys 37,000 readers about their health plans, and finds one in five (20%!) consumers "were sufficiently disappointed with their health-insurance plans and wanted to switch to a new one.''

Consumers were mainly disappointed in the choice of doctors, billing, high cost-sharing and access to care.

The best health care in the world? Not quite.

Continue reading "Clunkers" »

Posted August 15, 2007 at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Betsy Imholz
Special Projects Director
Consumers Union

Tuesday in Los Angeles, while Blue Cross patients and providers stood up one after another after another to tell their stories about Blue Cross problems – it was “Who, me?” from Blue Cross.

Blue Cross told the state Department of Managed Health Care (which convened the hearing) and everyone in the room that they had the lowest rate of complaints of any major insurer.

Consumer Reports heard a different story from our readers. In our national survey of the experiences of more than 37,000 Consumer Reports’ readers, the Blue Cross of California HMO scored close to the bottom of the list. Sixteen percent of those with Blue Cross HMO experiences reported problems with access to care—getting approval for needed care, getting coverage for medications, getting treatment or a test they believed they needed, or experiencing a decline in medical condition due to a treatment delay.

Continue reading "Who, Me?" »

Posted August 10, 2007 at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

In Los Angeles yesterday, Blue Cross was brought before the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) following 4,100 calls and complaints in the last three years. The Sick of Blue Cross petition drive turned in more than 1,600 in only one week's time.

The hearing gave Californians a great opportunity to hold the state's largest for-profit health insurer accountable for dangerous business practices such as only covering the healthy and denying coverage to the sick. Blue Cross is also notorious for raising rates however and whenever it chooses.

Find out more and see pictures of Mr. Sick of Blue Cross below the fold...

Continue reading "Thousands File Complaints Against Blue Cross" »

Posted August 8, 2007 at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

The Department of Managed Health Care will have its hearing later today on the practices of Blue Cross of California, especially after the Anthem-Wellpoint merger in 2004.

With the It's OUR Healthcare coalition, we launched www.SickOfBlueCross.com, and collected many consumer stories of BlueCross' bad behavior. At the hearing tomorrow, also working with the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, we'll have some of those stories, at a 9:30am press conference before the hearing.

Continue reading "Blue Cross in the Spotlight" »

Posted August 7, 2007 at 09:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

Health Access California's Executive Director Anthony Wright runs down what exactly is on the table concerning healthcare in the state.

Take a look.

Posted August 6, 2007 at 01:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

The California Endowment is starting a $6 million advertising campaign today, with a series of television, print, and newspaper ads to run for six weeks, to urge California policymakers to pass major health reform, this year. The ads are available to be viewed here.

The theme is "Californians are waiting for health care reform... What are California's leaders waiting for?" Dr. Robert Ross, the CEO of the Endowment, a private health care foundaion, said they don't have a specific dog in the hunt, between the Governor's proposal, the Nunez/Perata proposal, Kuehl's bill, or other efforts, but they wanted to express the urgency that Californians have on the issue, to "take advantage of an unprecedented opportunity."

Continue reading "What Are We Waiting For?" »

Posted August 1, 2007 at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

With all this talk of "individual responsibility" and mandates in health care reform, it's sometimes easy to forget that people actually want health coverage. Desperately. If they don't have insurance, they are the ones who face the consequences, which are to live sicker, die younger, and be one emergency away from financial ruin.

The issue isn't that individuals don't want coverage, but that there are barriers to getting it, in each of the three ways that Californians get coverage: through employers, public programs, or the individual market. In each case, health coverage is not always (or even often) available, affordable, or automatic. The point of health reform should be to remove these barriers.

Continue reading "Going Through Hoops for Healthcare" »

Posted July 30, 2007 at 03:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

The fine on Kaiser, as reported on in the San Jose Mercury News and other papers, raises an important issue in the health care reform debate.

How do we handle consumer complaints? Do people know where to go? How are they followed-up and treated?

Continue reading "Consumer Complaints Matter" »

Posted July 27, 2007 at 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

In two weeks, the State of California will drag Blue Cross into a public hearing and investigate thousands of complaints about premium increases, benefit cuts, canceled policies and other practices from policyholders.

Blue Cross raked in nearly a $1 billion in profits last year and shipped it off to parent company, WellPoint, based in Indiana. Blue Cross is able to amass such profits because it relies on business practices that harm millions of Californians, such as:

* Spending less of California's premium dollars on patient care than other larger insurers
* Denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and instead seeking to insure only the healthy
* Selling insurance designed to provide limited benefits, coupled with high deductibles and co-pays
* Raising rates however and whenever it chooses

These business practices are unacceptable (yet completely legal!) -- and it's time for us to put a stop to them.

Continue reading "Tell Blue Cross to Clean Up Its Act" »

Posted July 26, 2007 at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

There's a good article today by Timm Herdt of the Ventura County Star on the central debate on "affordability" in healthcare reform, and I would say that if he didn't quote our Health Access report on high deductible plans.

"Affordability" is not just lowering the cost of overall health care. It's a fundamental change, so that a consumer's healthcare costs are based on one's ability to pay, rather than the current completely wrong-headed situation, where our costs are based the type of job we have, and how sick we are.

Continue reading "It's Not Just a Buzzword" »

Posted July 25, 2007 at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

President Bush recently underwent a preventive colonoscopy to remove a series of polyps and provided ammunition to critics of the President's recent statements on healthcare. Earlier this month in Cleveland, President Bush ad libbed, "The immediate goal is to make sure there are more people on private insurance plans. I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room." It left Kevin Drum completely bewildered.

The President's assertion that people should just go to the emergency room for healthcare prompted Margot Kushel, M.D., from San Francisco, to put the healthcare debate into words that the President can understand with a letter to the New York Times.

Continue reading "M.D. Educates Bush on Healthcare" »

Posted July 24, 2007 at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

LA Times reveals that Blue Cross has unilaterally reduced reimbursement rates for physicians -- in some cases, even lower than Medicare rates.

Blue Cross calls the rates "sustainable,'' but physicians report it doesn't cover costs. The doctors are at the insurance giant's mercy, though, given the huge number of enrollees Blue Cross brings with them. (I'm surprised none of the doctors took the opportunity to kvetch about the $950 million that the company recently sent to its parent in Indianapolis).

Continue reading "Blue Crossing the Line" »

Posted July 23, 2007 at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

The LA Times reports that grocery workers have reached a tentative agreement with Southern California's supermarket chains, avoiding strikes that crippled the industry for 141 days in 2003-04.

While neither side has said what agreements were reached, the Times reports that new workers would not have to wait as long to become eligible for health insurance. During the last contract, new employees had to wait 18 months (and their families nearly three years) before getting health coverage.

The result is that health coverage for workers fell to 54 percent (from 94 percent), according to the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Studies. Turnover also increased to 32 percent (from 19 percent.)

According to the Times, the new waiting period would be 6 months. If this is true, it's a significant step.

Continue reading "Healthcare on Aisle 5" »

Posted July 18, 2007 at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

So apparently President Bush made the following comment at an event last week:

"I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room." -- President George W. Bush (Cleveland, 7/10/07)

If the president was at all -- even vaguely -- aware of the health care debate, he'd know that the one of the primary issues is that people are going to the emergency room -- too much, because (without health coverage) it's the only place they can see a doctor.

Continue reading "What Planet Is He From?" »

Posted July 16, 2007 at 03:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

Really? President Bush might use his first veto of a spending bill on the issue of children's coverage?

Robert Pear at the New York Times and Christopher Lee of the Washington Post report that the Administration has indicated that they would veto the Senate proposal, which would increase tobacco taxes by 61 cents to a flat $1, in order to raise $35 billion for expansion of the State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

Continue reading "Will He Veto?" »

Posted July 16, 2007 at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

It's OUR Healthcare organized several hundred Californians from across the state, to converge on Sacramento yesterday to lobby their legislators on healthcare. The deadline for bills to make it through committees is tomorrow -- making yesterday's Senate Health Committee hearing crucial.

Health Access Executive Director Anthony Wright has the legislative update on the merged AB 8 and other bills that were brought before the committee. It's OUR Healthcare was live blogging the hearing from inside the John L. Burton Hearing Room.

Continue reading "Hundreds Lobby Legislators in Sacramento" »

Posted July 12, 2007 at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

For far too long, Blue Cross of California's standard operating procedures of policy cancellation and denial of coverage have gone on unchecked and unregulated. With healthcare reform a top priority in Sacramento, Blue Cross dropped $2 million on an astroturf "coalition of one" to stifle necessary reform this year.

Today, It's OUR Healthcare, a coalition of consumer advocates, seniors, health advocates, communities of faith, and labor comprising more than 10 million, says no more and is asking Californians everywhere to stand up and fight back.

We are launching an aggressive online, public information campaign to uncover the real Blue Cross at www.SickOfBlueCross.com.

Continue reading "Sick of Blue Cross? We Are" »

Posted July 10, 2007 at 09:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore spoke at the second stop of the It's OUR Healthcare Road to Reform Tour in Los Angeles on June 26. The man behind the new film SiCKO gave an impassioned speech on the steps of City Hall alongside Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor's Secretary-Treasurer Maria Elena Durazo, Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation Art Pulaski and ER's Yvette Freeman.

Watch Michael Moore's full remarks below the fold.

Continue reading "Michael Moore's Remarks at IOH Road to Reform Tour" »

Posted July 9, 2007 at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

Last week's Road to Reform Tour was quite the success as the It's OUR Healthcare! coalition rallied for healthcare in six cities in just four days. Check out the dispatches from each tour stop here and a photo slideshow here.

On the second stop of the trip, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke about the importance of healthcare reform in the state of California. Watch video of his remarks.

Keep checking back for more video, including remarks from filmmaker Michael Moore from the Los Angeles stop on the tour.

The tour culminated in a rally on the west steps of the Capitol. Randy Bayne of California Notes was on hand to cover the event in Sacramento and captured some great photos.

More below the fold.

Continue reading "From Around the "Internets"" »

Posted July 5, 2007 at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

It's rare when a company advertises what its products don't do. Except if you are Blue Cross.

Saw another newspaper ad by Blue Cross yesterday trying to place some doubt onto health reform. Oddly, the pitch was the insurer wanted to "continue to provide consumers more choice and flexibility, and keep premiums affordable--for example offering plans without maternity coverage for seniors and plans that cover only generic drugs."

Let's look past the false statement that places their "premiums among the lowest in the country." California actually ranks in the middle of the states in terms of healthcare costs.

Continue reading "No Maternity! No New Drugs! Buy Now!" »

Posted June 27, 2007 at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (33) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

We all know gender inequality issues still exist in the workplace. Men still get paid more than women. Fewer women are promoted than men.

Another place where gender discrimination is allowed to tacitly continue is in health care. As recently as 2002, women were charged copays of between $500 and $2,000 to deliver babies. Meanwhile (mostly or only men) who had prostate surgery, back surgery, brain surgery, coronary bypass surgery did not have to pay copays.

Continue reading "Women, Health and the Glass Ceiling" »

Posted June 27, 2007 at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director
Health Access California

I spoke in front of Congress of California Seniors today at their 30th Anniversary Convention in Long Beach, and got a laugh in my presentation by saying off-hand that "living over 50 is a pre-existing condition." But the truth may be worse...

Last week, in response to my op-ed about young graduates falling off of coverage, I got an E-mail from a 27-year old Ph.D. student denied for Blue Cross' "Tonik" product, because of a high cholesterol test.

Continue reading "Heartburn by Blue Cross" »

Posted June 26, 2007 at 08:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

Twelve signatories of the It's OUR Healthcare! coalition penned a letter to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Núñez (D-Los Angeles) and Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata (D-Oakland) yesterday that urges them to follow through on the demands of the seniors, consumers, working families, and diverse communities we represent.

Full text of the letter is available below the fold.

Continue reading "IOH Writes Joint Letter to the Gov, Núñez and Perata" »

Posted June 26, 2007 at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

By Nick DeLuca
It's OUR Healthcare

There was good news in Sacramento last week on healthcare. Assembly Speaker Nunez and Senate President Perata have combined their healthcare proposals into one – and the result is, not perfect, but definitely movement in the right direction.

Here are the key tests for real healthcare reform, and how this new proposal addresses them (or doesn’t):

Continue reading "Nunez (AB 8) and Perata (SB 48) Merged Last Week" »

Posted June 25, 2007 at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

By Nick DeLuca
It's OUR Healthcare

Earlier this month, thousands of Californians met in more than four hundred house parties around the state to share healthcare stories and call for meaningful healthcare reform. We told our legislators that we all need healthcare that is affordable to have and use, and that to make that happen we need cost containment measures put in place.

But we know that the strong support for reform in 2007 demonstrated by our house parties is only the tip of the iceberg. So we're hitting the road and taking our message across the state, from San Diego to Sacramento, in our Road to Reform Tour. It's an opportunity to let people like you speak out about the need for meaningful reform this year.

Join us on the Road to Reform Tour! Check below the fold for details.

Continue reading "Six Cities in Four Days" »

Posted June 21, 2007 at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Nick DeLuca
It's OUR Healthcare

Yesterday brought a ranking of the 50 states, based on a Scorecard of Health System Performance. Now if they’d ranked each state alphabetically, we’d have done pretty well. But since it was based on actual performance, as you saw in yesterday’s blog, we were a bit farther down the list, down below the Mason-Dixon Line with the likes of Alabama and Tennessee.

But there was even more sobering information. This report also looked at what would happen if California’s performance improved – in other words, what are the actual consequences of keeping company with Alabama.

Continue reading "Just Above Tennessee and Alabama Redux" »

Posted June 20, 2007 at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Anthony Wright
Executive Director, Health Access California

The Commonwealth Fund put out state rankings, based on a Scorecard of Health System Performance. Interesting data.

California's profile is here. And it's not good: 39th overall. 44th in "Access." 50th(!) in "Quality." The national report indicates there's a correlation: "insurance matters." Either way you look at it, there's a lot to work on here.

We do well on the "Healthy Lives" indicator (3rd), although that may be related to the relatively younger mix of California's population.

Continue reading "Just Above Tennessee and Alabama" »

Posted June 18, 2007 at 04:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

USA Today last week ran an interesting story about a new breed of health plan that's been hitting the markets: limited medical benefit plans.

Policyholders for these plans pay low premiums to get the illusion of coverage. When an enrollee actually gets sick, they'll find they're insurance to be little more than a bandaid on a broken bone.

Some policies -- such as one offered by Aetna -- cover as little as $2,000 a year. So as long as you have an emergency that doesn't cost more than $2,000 you'll be fine. But other than that...

Continue reading "Slipping Through the Net" »

Posted June 18, 2007 at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

Earlier this week, filmmaker Michael Moore premiered the new film SiCKO at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento to a packed house.

Capping off a full day of press events, rallies and even testifying before the Senate Health Committee, Moore was introduced to moviegoers by Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Núñez, who put together a healthcare package, AB 8. Núñez was brought on stage by State Senator Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), author of the "single-payer" legislation, SB 840.

It's OUR Healthcare was able to capture video from inside the theatre before and after the showing -- sorry, no bootlegs here. For a movie review, Health Access California Executive Director Anthony Wright gave it "two thumbs up."

More videos below the fold.

Continue reading "Sacramento Goes SiCKO" »

Posted June 15, 2007 at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

Kaiser Family Foundation and Georgetown University have a new study about how families enrolled in high-deductible health plans pay more than twice as much for child delivery than families with traditional health coverage.

Well, Duh.

Continue reading " Bundles of $-J-$-O-$-Y-$" »

Posted June 13, 2007 at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

Anthony Wright
Executive Director, Health Access California

The California Legislature's Democratic leaders, Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, having passed their health reform bills from their respective houses Thursday, are now looking ahead at trying to meld the two ideas together.

Continue reading "Núñez (Assembly), Perata (Senate) Bills Pass" »

Posted June 8, 2007 at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

In the next couple of days, healthcare advocates will gather at over 400 house parties across the state. This is an unprecedented demonstration of support for healthcare reform. It shows that we Californians want the Governor and legislature to provide meaningful healthcare reform this year.

In the next week, we expect the key issues in this year's healthcare reform debate to be decided. It's not likely anything will be passed this early, but the framework is being set right now.

This makes June the critical moment for our voices to be heard. We need to let our legislators and the Governor know what must be in that healthcare reform.

Continue reading "We're Making Our Voices Heard Now" »

Posted June 7, 2007 at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

In a flurry of legislation receiving votes on the floor, Senator Sheila Kuehl's SB 840, the single-payer universal healthcare legislation, passed the State Senate last night on a near party-line vote, 22-14.

Frank Russo reports that the proposals by the Democratic Party leadership in the legislature -- Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Nunez's AB 8 and Senate Pro Tem Don Perata's SB 48 -- are up for vote today.

Continue reading "SB 840 Passes Senate; AB 8 and SB 48 On Deck for Today" »

Posted June 7, 2007 at 08:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

The great thing about Blue Cross is their sense of irony.

Blue Cross-backed Coalition for Responsible Healthcare Reform recently released a fifty-nine second radio ad designed to scare insured Californians against meaningful healthcare reform.

But its the disingenuousness that really sells it.

Continue reading "Blue Cross' PR Firm Astroturf Group "Coalition" Releases New Radio Ad" »

Posted June 5, 2007 at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (48) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

Together for Health Care has a new television ad pushing for healthcare reform this year.

Continue reading "Together for Health Care is On the Air" »

Posted June 1, 2007 at 04:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Anthony Wright
Executive Director, Health Access California

Lots of happenings on health today in Sacramento:

* The Appropriations Committee (Frank Russo gives some flavor here) passed the health care reform plans, as expected.

* More information came out about the release of Sicko, the Michael Moore film, including a premiere that night hosted by Speaker Fabian Nunez in Sacramento on June 12th, as well as a 2p.m. rally that day with Sen. Kuehl and the California Nurses Assocation. (Jon Myers at KQED and Jordan Rau at LA Times have reports).

Continue reading "Busy Day" »

Posted May 31, 2007 at 06:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director, Health Access California

I would be remiss if I didn't point out some articles in the papers. Not because Health Access California is mentioned, but because they offer poignant stories from actual California families about our health system today.

Continue reading "Real Stories" »

Posted May 30, 2007 at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director, Health Access California

No sooner do we try to tease out the profit motives of BlueCross in opposing new rules and oversight, than we find that the stakes are even higher than we think.

Lisa Girion at the LA Times has the scoop:

Continue reading "$950 Million is Real Money" »

Posted May 29, 2007 at 09:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (12) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

This week, Blue Cross launched a $2 million advertisement campaign aimed at promoting “responsible” healthcare reform in California.

The new group, Coalition for Responsible Healthcare Reform, cautioned would-be healthcare advocates with a gloomy comparison to the energy crisis from several years ago.

Remember how the rash deregulation of the energy market in California spawned power outages and soaring rates? Let’s not go there again.

“[I]f the energy crisis is the analogy,” wrote Anthony Wright, Executive Director of Health Access California, “then Blue Cross is Enron, taking advantage of an unregulated California market and leading to a blackout of coverage for millions.”

Continue reading "Blue Cross' "Coalition" for the Status Quo" »

Posted May 25, 2007 at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

A big piece of health reform rhetoric -- coming from multimillionaire CEOs -- is the need for personal responsibility and healthy lifestyle choices.

This LA Times story today re-highlights what I thought was a long-established fact, poor women -- many of whom happen to be minorities -- suffer disproportionately from chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke etc.

The study notes that poverty and lack of insurance are complicit in causing these diseases in this population.

Continue reading "Poverty: It's Bad for Your Health" »

Posted May 24, 2007 at 08:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

The Chamber of Commerce has just released its annual list of "job-killer'' bills. Among them – AB8 and SB48, the Legislature's healthcare reform legislation. You’ll recall that both bills propose businesses dedicate 7.5 percent of their income to pay for health care for their employees.

(They also opine about "green energy'' and "green building" bills. Maybe global warming doesn't kill jobs.)

Continue reading "Killing Jobs? Or Killing People?" »

Posted May 23, 2007 at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

This LA Times story over the weekend helps consumers strategize and build a patchwork health coverage plans for their family, based on what they anticipate their health needs will be.

It's an interesting concept requiring families to look at their past few years of medical bills to determine if they really need a traditional, more comprehensive plan, or can go with a high deductible.

It sounds kind of like looking at a mutual fund's past performance, and anticipating how much it will earn in the future.

Continue reading "Need Coverage -- And Soothsayer" »

Posted May 21, 2007 at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Anthony Wright
Executive Director, Health Access California

With all the attention on the financing details of the legislative leader proposals, we shouldn’t ignore the universal health care proposal, SB840(Kuehl), and the attention it has been getting.

There was a good article by Tom Chorneau in the San Francisco Chronicle about the continuing effort. Senator Kuehl says that she plans to put her bill on the Governor’s desk, but it might be in 2008, regardless of what happens this year with the other proposals.

Continue reading "When You Come to a Fork in the Road -- Take It" »

Posted May 18, 2007 at 01:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

By Nick DeLuca
It's OUR Healthcare

Why do we need good, affordable healthcare for everybody? Here’s Chapter 257, straight from the (elementary school) classroom.

Continue reading "Oh, Say Can You See..." »

Posted May 18, 2007 at 09:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

It kind of sounds like saline implants for chicken breasts. Whatever it is, it's certainly not "natural."

Apparently, Tyson Foods, Inc. and Pilgrim's Pride Corp. have been calling their chickens -- which are kept moist with injections of a salt water, seaweed concoction and "natural flavor" -- "100% All Natural Marinated Fresh Chicken'' or something like that. (Here's the story in the WSJ.)

Gross.

Continue reading "Here's Something That Ruffles My Feathers" »

Posted May 17, 2007 at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

We already knew that the U.S. ranks 21st in life expectancy and 23rd in infant mortality, in spite of spending more than any other industrialized nation on health care, according to OECD stats.

The Commonwealth Fund yesterday just released a report reaffirming that notion.

It's not a surprising revelation for those of us working in health care, but hopefully, it will provide a jolt to those who insist that America has the best health care in the world.

Continue reading "Not Surprised" »

Posted May 16, 2007 at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

This Wall Street Journal (subscription required) story this AM made me cock my head.

Continue reading "Woe is Them" »

Posted May 15, 2007 at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

The Assembly just passed AB1324 (De La Torre), which clarifies that insurers can't rescind coverage if the policy holder had completed applications in good faith.

The bill attempts to address a rash of instances, uncovered in the LA Times, where Blue Cross cancelled patients' coverage after expensive claims were made, leaving them uninsured and on the hook for hundreds of thousands in treatments.

Continue reading "Assembly Passes Legislation Against Policy Cancellations" »

Posted May 14, 2007 at 01:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

Blue Cross now says it's no longer going to willy-nilly cancel people's insurance policies when they have a suspicion that policyholders didn't disclose *everything* about their health history since they were 1.

Now, the health insurance giant says it will ask policyholders when they see a problem with their applications before deciding to cancel their policies.

It's nice to see, now, that Blue Cross believes in the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty.

Continue reading "Are They Saying They Were Wrong?" »

Posted May 11, 2007 at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

The governor, a bunch of California CEOs and some lawmakers aligned themselves outside the Capitol this morning – squinting, sweating and soaking up cancerous sun rays – and showing how excited they are to fight for health care reform.

Continue reading "This Sounds Good and All, But..." »

Posted May 10, 2007 at 06:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (73) | Trackbacks (0)

… if it doesn't insure you?

By Nick DeLuca
It's OUR Healthcare

That's Alexa Wild's story. (San Francisco Chronicle, 5/08)

As the Chron reports, Wild is a freshman at San Jose State, who is in pain everyday, in her hands and her feet, because she has rheumatoid arthritis.

Wild also has a doctor who has found a medicine that relieves her pain. And Wild even has insurance – but her insurance won't pay for her medicine – so her pain gets worse, and worse.

Continue reading "What Good Is Your Health Insurance..." »

Posted May 9, 2007 at 08:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

Here's an interesting story in the L.A. Times this past weekend that highlights the inefficiencies in our current health system.

Blue Cross-Blue Shield health plans have agreed to pay $128 million to more than 900,000 physicians who charged that the Blues systematically paid them for less expensive procedures than the ones that were performed.

In addition to the $128 million settlement, the physicians will also have about $49 million in legal fees.

Continue reading "Blue Cross Blue Shield Settles with 900K Physicians for $128mil." »

Posted May 2, 2007 at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

In the last few weeks, three major healthcare proposals were passed through the Health Committees of their respective chambers -- Senator Sheila Kuehl's (D-Santa Monica) SB 840, Speaker Fabian Nunez's (D-Los Angeles) AB 8, and Senate Pro Tem Don Perata's (D-Oakland) SB 48. The movement on healthcare legislation recently has a lot of people asking Health Access Executive Director Anthony Wright, "What's next?"

Continue reading "What's Next?" »

Posted May 2, 2007 at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

IOH supporter Dale L. made an interesting observation about the injured driver of the truck that exploded and severely damaged part of the MacArthur Maze in Oakland this past weekend.

Continue reading "Why Is This Even Plausible?" »

Posted May 1, 2007 at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

Even though President George Bush only wants to provide health coverage to the poorest families, many states are planning to extend coverage to an increasingly middle-income population, according to an Associated Press story today.

Under current law, only children in families up to 200% of poverty ($41,300 for a family of four) could qualify for the program.

Continue reading "Building Blocks..." »

Posted April 30, 2007 at 04:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

This week, It's OUR Healthcare will have a video crew capturing the real healthcare stories of Californians in five cities. The footage will be used to help persuade state policymakers that we want real change this year.

Check below the fold for times and locations in your area.

Continue reading "Video Crew Capturing Healthcare Stories All Week" »

Posted April 30, 2007 at 08:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

There's a common perception out there that seniors are "taken care of'' when it comes to healthcare. But many adults between the ages of 55 and 64 are increasingly filing for bankruptcy as a result -- partially -- of higher health care costs, according to this L.A. Times article.

Continue reading "For Our Parents, Grandparents -- and Someday, Ourselves" »

Posted April 27, 2007 at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

IOH coalition member AARP will be launching a media blitz on healthcare reform in California, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

With California's top legislative leaders and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaiming 2007 to be "the year" for healthcare, nobody is taking it lightly.

Continue reading "AARP Set to Launch Media Campaign on Healthcare" »

Posted April 26, 2007 at 09:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

It's been a busy week in health reform. Today, the last of three health reform bills – SB48 (Perata) – was heard and passed out of Senate Health Committee.

The bill – jointly authored by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata and Sen. Sheila Kuehl – attacks health reform in the "shared responsibility'' fashion that the Governor and AB8 by Assembly Speaker Nunez do. Kuehl, however, has her own single-payer proposal SB840, which passed last week.

Perata's bill has a little of this and a little of that:

Continue reading "Perata's SB48 Passes Committee" »

Posted April 25, 2007 at 06:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

In the Assembly Health Committee, AB 8, the healthcare bill introduced by Speaker Fabian Núñez (D-Los Angeles) passed with a 10 to 5 party line vote yesterday. The healthcare proposal from Senate Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland), SB 48, is in the Senate Health Committee today.

Continue reading "Núñez's Healthcare Bill Passes Committee" »

Posted April 25, 2007 at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

Last week, members of the IOH online team spent a few hours in downtown Oakland talking to people about their experiences with healthcare. We heard stories from the insured and the uninsured. Some of the common themes were expanding access, easing the financing burden on individuals and ensuring quality care for all when they need it.

Every year, six million Californians go without health insurance but sometimes statistics and numbers are so overwhelming that the point gets lost -- real people are dealing with these problems every day. The current state of healthcare in California affects real people, like Major who is struggling to find affordable health insurance for his son.

Continue reading "Share Your Story on YouTube" »

Posted April 23, 2007 at 05:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Matt Ortega
It's OUR Healthcare

Donald Cohen, president of the IOH member organization Center for Policy Initiatives (CPI), penned a San Diego Union-Tribune editorial on Tuesday that blasted Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan for shifting the brunt of the healthcare burden from employers to individuals.

Continue reading "Editorial: Employers Must Pay Their Larger Share" »

Posted April 19, 2007 at 04:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

In another inspiring day at the Capitol, hundreds of supporters packed hallways and overflowed hearing rooms -- for the second time this year -- in support of Sen. Sheila Kuehl's SB840, which would create a single-payer health system in California.

This is the fifth year that Kuehl has introduced the measure and support has snowballed.

Continue reading "SB840 Supporters Flood Capitol Hearings" »

Posted April 18, 2007 at 10:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

More than 200 union members, health activists and seniors met at the Capitol yesterday to kick off the "It's OUR Healthcare" story collection drive.

Photos of dozens of Californians – who've been through the healthcare ringer in one way or another -- littered the Capitol lawn.

One woman is still receiving bills from the doctor who declared her husband dead. Another woman and her husband had to declare bankruptcy after she battled breast cancer – twice – and her husband had open heart surgery in the same two years.

Unfortunately, these stories aren't unique.

Continue reading "Healthcare Activists Descend on Capitol" »

Posted April 18, 2007 at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (68) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

Fortune Magazine just released its Top 500 companies this weekend.

It's no surprise that seven health insurers cracked that list. In all, thirteen health insurance companies made the Top 1000.

Continue reading "Champion of Profits: What About Patients?" »

Posted April 17, 2007 at 09:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

There is this misconception that healthcare is readily available to anyone -- that any person who is sick can see a doctor at any time.

Not so.

We activists know that without health coverage, the neediest among us end up paying the highest prices for health care, or going without.

Continue reading "Congress Seeks to Cover Legal Immigrant Children" »

Posted April 16, 2007 at 08:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

By Hanh Kim Quach
Health Access California

A new study by UC Berkeley Labor Center provides a vivid example of how today's market is driving in the wrong direction: even workers in what used to be considered "good" jobs with benefits and a union are suffering serious reversals when it comes to healthcare. The most dramatic example: grocery store workers.

Continue reading "Grocery Workers Struggling With Health Care" »

Posted March 18, 2007 at 01:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

Anthony Wright
Executive Director, Health Access California

A new father has to work two jobs just to make sure his family has healthcare coverage and can afford to pay the $400 a month it costs. In the meantime, he’ll be missing much of his daughter’s childhood.

A mother worries so much about her uninsured teenage son that she bans him from playing basketball, fearful of a sports injury.

A healthy, fit woman in her 50’s battles insurance companies over an earlier diagnosis that now prevents her from purchasing healthcare in the individual market.

Continue reading "It’s OUR Healthcare!" »

Posted March 17, 2007 at 01:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)