Yesterday the Senate Health Committee met for the last time before the May 1st deadline for all fiscal bills. Out of the 25 bills on the committee’s agenda, a handful that were of prime interest to Health Access and health care advocates. These include: SB 203 (Monning) on sugar sweetened beverages safety warnings; SB 346 (Wieckowski) on hospital […]
Covered California Board Meeting April 16, 2015: Highlights
The Covered California board met on April 16, the first meeting for new board members Marty Morgenstern and Genoveva Islas. Meeting materials for the April 16 meeting are available here: http://board.coveredca.com/meetings/2015/4-15/index.html Cost Sharing on Specialty Prescription Drugs The most contentious issue at the Covered California board meeting was the one that was postponed, on how to design […]
Time is NOW: Health4All Builds Momentum in East Bay
This post was written by Rose Auguste, Health Access Organizer (Northern California). The work to cover all Californians continues at the local level. On Wednesday, October 8th community members, health and immigration advocates, students and Alameda County legislators held a press event at the Oakland State Building in support of SB1005 (Lara), the Health For All […]
Office of the Patient Advocate Releases 2014-2015 Health Care Quality Report Cards
Office of the Patient Advocate Releases 2014-2015 Health Care Quality Report Cards The much anticipated 2014-2015 edition of the OPA’s Health Care Quality Report Cards comes months ahead of the usual release date so that the information can be of use to consumers in the coming open enrollment season. The OPA release actually includes three […]
Comings and Goings, and Best Wishes
Big news today, as Toby Douglas, the director of the Department of Health Care Services, announced he would be leaving that post by the end of the year. For the last four years in that position, he ran Medi-Cal, which provides health care and coverage for a staggering 11 million Californians–more than a quarter of the state. […]
Remembering Rick Pavich
We at Health Access were heartbroken this weekend, learning that our friend and colleague Rick Pavich had passed away on Friday, just a week since taking medical leave in his recent struggle with cancer. Rick had been our Director of Operations and Development for almost nine years, joining Health Access in 2005. In that role, […]
Start Spreading the News…
At the Covered California board meeting yesterday, the exchange indicated their marketing rollout strategy: an announcement on August 29th, test marketing in September in Chico, Sacramento, and San Diego, and then full brand awareness advertising in October. The push for full enrollment messaging will start November-December. When people bemoan the recent poll results that suggest […]