Ehnes Urges Coverage of Uninsured, Says Bill To Create State Single-Payer Health System Not Viable
Department of Managed Health Care Director Cindy Ehnes at a conference on Wednesday urged health care officials to extend health care coverage to uninsured California residents, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports.
Speaking at the 23rd annual Los Angeles Association of Health Underwriters Sales Conference, Ehnes encouraged health insurance brokers to help extend coverage to the uninsured, a move that she said would help address increasing health care costs.
Ehnes said, "If everybody doesn't have a skin in the game, then health care costs are going up. If you engage the consumer ... they will use less health care."
Ehnes also said that she does not believe legislation (SB 840) proposed by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Los Angeles) to create a single-payer health insurance program for all state residents is "viable" (Blazier, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, 5/5). The bill builds on similar legislation Kuehl introduced in 2003. That legislation passed the Senate but stalled in the Assembly (California Healthline, 4/27).