As if there wasn’t enough interest to maximize the benefits of the Affordable Care Act from within the state, California is being looked to across the nation as the example of how to do it right.
This was implicit in this NPR story that contrasts the approaches of Texas and California.
But this contrast is highlighted by the Washington Post’s Wonkblog’s Ezra Klein, who writes “Call it the California vs. Texas question.”
He even puts in a prediction for mass enrollment next year: “By this time next year, when the expansion is fully underway, it’s possible that the portion of the state’s uninsured population will have declined from 20 percent to less than five percent.”
He laters concludes the piece, “Or, to put it another way, California might end 2014 with a high-performing, near-universal health-care system. Texas might end it having made an already troubled system even more of a disaster.”
He and his colleague Sarah Kliff reiterated this comparison in their Wonktalk segment. While we appreciate the rivalry with Texas, that’s some expectation to place on us, Ezra. We appreciate the pressure.