How California Keeps Health Premiums Down Like No Other State

[applegrove]

How California Keeps Health Premiums Down Like No Other State

by Mattie Quinn at Governing.com

http://www.governing.com/topics/health-human-services/gov-covered-california-health-insurance-premiums.html?utm_term=How%20California%20Keeps%20Health%20Premiums%20Down%20Like%20No%20Other%20State&utm_campaign=How%20California%20Keeps%20Health%20Premiums%20Down%20Like%20No%20Other%20State%20

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California’s system is unique thanks to its rigorous vetting process for insurers that want to participate in its marketplace. At the onset of the ACA, the state hired a team to look over health plan proposals from insurance companies and excluded any that it deemed uncompetitive. Unlike in any other state, every plan in California has identical benefits, so enrollees are “choosing a plan basically just for the network,” said Shana Charles, faculty associate with UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research.

Because the state chooses the plans, insurance companies are under pressure to offer lower rates.

“It’s an example of good governance,” said Charles. “Government is taking a referee role and telling these insurance companies, ‘This is the minimum standard, so show us what you've got.'”

And the state's work has paid off in the form of lower premiums.




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[Hoyt]

1. +1 Also CA providers and patients embraced managed care, Kaiser, etc., long before other states