LA Takes Preemptive Steps To Preserve Gains Made Under Health Law
The county's board of supervisors is asking staff to figure out how to protect or extend health care coverage in case the federal law is dismantled.
KPCC:
LA County Moves To Play Role In Protecting CA's Obamacare Gains
Amidst uncertainty about the future of the Affordable Care Act, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors moved Tuesday to position the county as a leader in the effort to figure out how California can maintain the gains of Obamacare in case the state loses federal health care dollars. ... While the supervisors did not discuss specific ideas, Dr. Mitchell Katz, director of the county's Department of Health Services, mentioned a couple of possibilities in an interview with KPCC and in testimony before the board. For example, he told KPCC that California could pass a law saying that if Congress eliminates the federal mandate that everyone have health insurance, the state will institute its own mandate. (Plevin and Lavender, 2/21)
In other health law news —
KPCC:
South LA Clinic 'A Microcosm' Of Nation's Anxieties
Lourdes Flores Valdez says she got her diabetes under control after she was able to sign up for Medi-Cal under the Affordable Care Act's expanded eligibility rules. Sitting in an exam room at the UMMA Community Clinic's Fremont Wellness Center in South Los Angeles, she suddenly veers away from discussing the health law and starts talking about her husband, who's in the U.S. illegally. ... Clinic staff say they're hearing these types of concerns a lot these days from their mainly Latino clientele, about one-third of whom are unauthorized immigrants. Many patients are worried about losing their access to health care and about possible deportation. (Plevin, 2/22)
San Diego Union-Times:
Issa Bill To Replace Obamacare Doesn't Address Subsidies
Under pressure from constituents in and outside of his congressional district, Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista on Tuesday released a draft bill that would repeal and replace Obamacare. Titled the “Access to Insurance for All Americans Act,” it is the first measure that suggests all Americans should be allowed to enroll in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, a system that offers access to hundreds of health plans for more than 8 million federal employees, retirees and their dependents. Issa has brought up the idea in health-care debates since at least 2009, and he cast the plan in a bipartisan light Tuesday morning while addressing supporters and protesters outside his Vista office. (Sisson, 2/21)