Health Care Stakeholders Outline Calif.’s ACA Progress, Challenges
On Friday, panelists at a forum on the Affordable Care Act outlined issues that the state still faces in implementing the law, the Sacramento Business Journal reports. The Business Journal hosted the forum.
Comments at Forum
During the forum, Hill Physicians Medical Group President Bruce Bob said that while the state has made progress on implementing the law, some of the ACA's rules remain unclear.
Shawn Balsdon, the Northern California sales director for the state's Small Employer Health Options Program, added that Covered California still needs to improve outreach to employers about the enrollment process.
David Chase, Small Business Majority's California director, agreed that miscommunication still is a big problem.
Meanwhile, Mary Antoine, a partner at Nossaman law firm in Sacramento, expressed concern about a ballot initiative that would give the state insurance commissioner the authority to reject health insurance rate increases.
Antoine said Proposition 45 "would throw a hand grenade on all efforts by Covered California to negotiate cost-effective rates ... and would slow everything down" (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 9/12).
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