New Assembly Bill Would Continue ACA Pay Parity ‘Indefinitely’

Assembly member Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) -- chair of the Assembly Health Committee -- has introduced a bill (AB 1759) that seeks to "continue indefinitely" the Affordable Care Act's parity provision, which guarantees equal reimbursement rates for primary care services from Medicare and Medi-Cal, Modern Healthcare reports. Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program.

Pan said that continuing the parity provision is necessary because physicians will be reluctant to expand Medicaid in the future unless they are properly adequately for their services (Robeznieks, Modern Healthcare, 2/24).

In a statement, he said, "Without adequate payment, Medi-Cal becomes an empty promise of coverage without actual access to care" (Ault, Family Practice News, 2/24).

However, the bill would make the provision permanent "only to the extent that federal financial participation is available." The bill did not include an estimate for how much it would cost to continue the parity provision.

The American Academy of Family Physicians also is advocating making the ACA's parity provision permanent (Modern Healthcare, 2/24).