Consumers know they can save money and limit their out-of-pocket costs by going to an in-network provider. Too often, however, consumers who do the right thing by going to an in-network hospital or facility end up getting a surprise bill by a doctor who turns out not to be in-network. According to a recent survey […]
Key Consumer Protections Bills Move Forward
Earlier today Senate Health Committee passed several key bills benefiting health care consumers, including two sponsored by Health Access California: AB 339 (Gordon), dealing with high cost specialty medications and AB 533 (Bonta), which halts surprise bills from out-of-network providers. Both bills go beyond Affordable Care Act to provide improved patient protections—ensuring that the cost sharing […]
Key Consumer Protection Bills Face Crucial Vote NEXT WEEK
With next Friday’s (July 17) deadline for policy committees to meet and consider bills from the opposite house, critical patient protection bills will be debated and voted on in the Assembly Health Committee this Tuesday and in Senate Health Committee on Wednesday. Community groups have the next few days to mobilize networks to encourage committee […]
Legislative Recap at Halfway Point: Key Bills Pass Floor Votes
In this article… SB 4 Would Take Historic Steps to Cover Remaining Uninsured Patient Protection Bills to Limit Out-of-Pocket Costs Other bills on transparency, Medi-Cal, and more This blog entry was written by Sawait Hezchias-Seyoum, Health Care Policy Advocate, Health Access. The Senate and Assembly adjourned yesterday, one day ahead of the June 5th deadline to […]
Key Health Consumer Bills Move to Floor NEXT WEEK
California Legislative Appropriations Committees just voted to pass key legislation, including SB4 #Health4All (Lara) to expand coverage regardless of immigration status and several patient protection bills limiting out-of-pocket costs. Though some bills were amended in today’s suspense hearings (details below), all will advance to floor votes next week. To advance this year, all bills must […]
Legislative Re-Cap: After the First Deadline…
Last Friday was the deadline for all policy committees in the California legislature to hear and report on all bills with fiscal implications–and the good news is that many key bills of interest to health care consumers have passed their first critical hearing. While some bills stalled (including almost all of those Health Access opposed but […]
The LA Times weighs in…
The LA Times editorial board endorsed two Health Access California-sponsored bills this weekend to prevent surprise out-of-pocket out-of-network costs. SB137(Hernandez) would require real-time accurate and standardized provider directories; AB533(Bonta) would ensure that consumers who go to an in-network hospital or facility does not get out-of-network bills from any of the doctors or other providers they […]
Health Committees Vote….
This week we had key policy committee hearings, in advance of the end-of-the-month deadlines to pass bills. Yesterday, in the California Assembly Health Committee, numerous key bills advanced. Surprise Bills: Our sponsored legislation, AB533(Bonta) passed on a 17-0 vote, to prevent consumers from getting out-of-network bills when going to a in-network hospital or facility. Even […]