I know you are out there. I can prove it -- statistically! Thousands of people read Daily Kos every day, and many hundreds of them must be Californians. Math may be hard, but statistics is easy. So all you California Kossacks out there: you are needed now!
The California Legislature is currently considering the most important health care bill on its docket for the year. AB 52, which allows health insurance premium rates to be regulated. (No, it's not single payer health care -- it doesn't look like anything further will happen on that bill until 2012.)
Conceptually, this is a really simple bill that will make a significant difference, and it really, really needs to get passed. Here's what it does:
This bill would further require a health care service plan or health insurer that issues individual or group contracts or policies to file with the Department of Managed Health Care or the Department of Insurance, on and after January 1, 2012, a complete rate application for any proposed rate, as defined, or rate change, and would prohibit the Department of Managed Health Care or the Department of Insurance from approving any rate or rate change that is found to be excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory.
Or, in plain English it gives the California Insurance Commissioner and his counterpart in the Department of Managed Health Care the authority to regulate health insurance rates.
It really shouldn't be that big a deal. A lot of other states' Insurance Commissioners have this regulatory power, and California already regulates auto and home insurance rates. I don't know the full history of why California didn't provide health insurance rate regulation along with these other regulatory powers, but it's easy to see now why there is such a fight against it: California's Health Insurance Companies. You know, the nice people who have been hiking your health insurance rates by 10%, 20%, 30% or more every year now for a while now, which raking in record profits.
This coming Wednesday, the Senate Health Committee is going to vote on the bill. To become law it has to (among other things) pass out of this committee. It's not clear whether the insurance companies, with all their money and lobbyists, are going to win yet one more time (A similar bill failed in the last session, and others were vetoed by Schwarzenegger in previous sessions). But one thing is sure. If State Senators in the aggregate and those on the Health Committee in particular don't hear from the people of the state, they are likely going to conclude that no one gives a rats ass about this legislation except the companies that make large donations to their campaign coffers who are -- you guessed it, California's Health Insurance Companies! And they really, really don't want this legislation passed.
So unless you are enamored of yearly 20% increases in your health insurance premiums, I'm asking you -- Today! not tomorrow or next week, RIGHT NOW -- to call up your State Senator and respectfully demand that they support AB 52. And to call the three members of the Senate Health Committee listed below and tell them you want to see this bill passed out of committee. I suspect that even a relatively small number of calls will make them stand up and take notice, because the bill has gotten far less publicity than it deserves.
Let's face it. Your one call is not going to convince the President to get out of Afghanistan; or get Congress to pass single-payer health care. But your call today, to the California Senate, could easily have a real impact on whether this important bill ultimately passes or not, and it might affect your pocketbook to boot!
The Senate Health Committee consists of six Democrats and three Republicans. Five votes are necessary to move it out of committee. The Republicans are assumed to be a lost cause. Three of the Democratic Senators have committed to vote for the bill.
That leaves three other Democrats that need to be called and cajoled:
Senator Ed Hernandez (Chair) -- 916-651-4024
Senator Elaine Alquist --- 916-651-4013
Senator Michael Rubio -- 916-651-4016
Simply tell them you want AB 52, to be considered this coming Wednesday, passed out of committee so that the entire Senate can have their say.
To call your own California Senator, here is a really easy way: Just enter your zip code and your State Senator's local office and Sacramento office phone numbers will appear.