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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUS Supreme court ruling moves California forward with health care reform
The Supreme Court's historic ruling brought sighs of relief to California health officials. In the past months of uncertainty, theyd been bracing for a possible repeal of the Obama administrations Affordable Care Act, while at the same time facing looming deadlines for implementing several major provisions of the health reform law.
"This ruling makes it possible for us to complete the work that weve started and be ready in January 2014 to begin providing health security to nearly 6 million Californians who are uninsured," said Diana Dooley, secretary of the California Health and Human Services (CHHS) agency, which operates Medi-Cal and a number of other health programs. "Weve had many starts and stops, and we are now in the full-go mode."
California was first in the nation to begin the complex and expensive process of creating a health care exchange program required and funded by the federal health reform law. The idea is to provide a state-run marketplace that offers a smorgasbord of private health insurance plans to small businesses and to Californians who dont have employee-sponsored insurance. Low-income residents will get subsidies to help them buy insurance.
"We look forward to making the purchase of insurance through Californias exchange as easy as buying a book on Amazon and shoes on Zappos," said Peter Lee, executive director of the exchange. Lee says by October 2013, Californians will be able to compare and choose plans based on costs and benefits. "And were going to be moving full speed ahead to build this marketplace, to make it easier for all Californians to get access to affordable insurance," he said.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2012/06/28/33020/us-supreme-court-ruling-moves-california-forward-p/
Control-Z
(15,682 posts)I can't wait to find better coverage. A more affordable plan would be nice too.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)pages and pages and pages the last time I tried to apply. Mostly wanting to know every cold and bump and bruise you've ever had, and the names and addresses of every physician you've seen since birth, and god forbid you make a mistake - they toss your application and accuse you of fraud.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)of fraud if they think doing so is profitable.
But if they can't exclude due to pre-existing conditions, my guess is that those questions will no longer appear on applications. Their only purpose is to find a pre-existing condition to deny coverage over.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)What if they decide the penalty/fine due to excluding someone would be less than what it would cost them to pay for
medical care for the pre-existing condition ?
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)But anybody who tries it will face the full weight of the US government's legal process because that is a cornerstone of the ACA that no one dare defy.
You aren't seriously suggesting that insurance companies will defy this part of the law, are you? Insurers that try this stunt will be put out of business and their higher-ups prosecuted, I suspect. Not to mention how it would be really easy to publicize their actions and boycott them.
http://www.healthcare.gov/blog/2011/01/preexisting.html
Do read up on the law a little. My guess would be that denial of coverage in open defiance of this part of the law would bring great legal grief for whatever corporation tried it. Perhaps even a lawsuit by shareholders for putting the entire company in legal jeopardy.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)that is elected.
RandySF
(58,448 posts)We may always be in a fiscal mess, but we are almost always trying to move forward.