The white hot spotlight on health reform in California continues. For the New York Times Room For Debate, we were pleased to contribute an essay, “Obamacare is Working in California” as part of a package answering the question, “Is Obamacare to Complicated to Succeed?” Here’s part of our answer:
In fact, the law is a huge step toward a simpler and more straightforward system. One of the new insurance exchanges under the A.C.A., Covered California, will offer standardized plans to finally allow consumers and small businesses to make apples-to-apples comparisons among health plans.
Using its purchasing power, Covered California has just announced negotiated rates with a broad selection of plans – and there’s good news: the rates are lower than expected. This is partially because California explicitly gave its insurance marketplace the power to bargain for the best price and value.
Read the whole thing to see how we compare the Affordable Care Act to both an iPhone, and a Harry Potter novel.
California is getting attention from both sides of the political debate. Some Obamacare opponents are trying to dispute the competitive rates of Covered California. Most notable is Avik Roy at Forbes. He tries to make the case for “rate shock,” while totally ignoring the value of what people are buying is substantially different, and the impacct of subsidies for lower- and middle-income Californians. What’s most amazing is that in the middle of decrying apples-to-oranges comparisons, the whole article is based on making apples-to-oranges comparisons.
His Forbes colleague Rick Unger eviscerates his argument, particulary his use of teaser rates on eHealthinsurance–ones that don’t take into account health status rate increases or skimpy benefits–as the basis of his comparison.
One of the most through rebuttals was Ezra Klein at the Washington Post Wonkblog, who imagines a Best Buy that operated like the current individual market, that advertises a cheap TV, but then may not decide to sell it to you, or can charge you differently depending on a questionaire. It’s actually worse that that: He neglects that the TV may not work on certain days, and may charge you more on certain months after you already bought it. Jonathan Cohn at the New Republic adds on.
Yes, Covered California will be less complicated and confusing that the current individual market. That’s not a high bar. The fact that it will offer actual apples-to-apples comparisons and affordability subsidies and the bargaining power only large employers previously had? That’s a transformational improvement to a simpler system.