Voters Reject Rate Regulation, Physician Drug Testing Measures

Two ballot initiatives related to health insurance rate regulation and random drug testing of physicians failed, while California voters passed a separate ballot initiative aimed at reducing criminal penalties, the San Jose Mercury News reports (Seipel/Calefeti, San Jose Mercury News, 11/4).

Proposition 45

About 60% of Californians voted against Proposition 45, the AP/Fresno Bee reports (Taxin, AP/Fresno Bee, 11/5).

The measure would have given the state insurance commissioner the authority to reject health insurance rate increases (California Healthline, 10/31).

The rejection of Prop. 45 came after its opponents -- including insurers, such as Kaiser Permanente and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association -- raised millions of dollars for a campaign against the measure (Dembosky, "State of Health," KQED, 11/5).

According to the Los Angeles Times' "PolitiCal," the opposition campaign raised about $57 million (Lifsher, "PolitiCal," Los Angeles Times, 11/4). In comparison, proponents of the measure raised about $2.5 million ("State of Health," KQED, 11/5).

State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones (D) said, "It turns out $57.5 million of false and negative advertising by the health insurers actually has an impact on voters, unfortunately" (Gutierrez/Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle, 11/5).

Micah Weinberg -- senior policy adviser to the Bay Area Council, which opposed Prop. 45 -- said, "This was a huge threat to health reform in the state, so I'm very, very glad that we've batted it back" (AP/Fresno Bee, 11/5).

See today's "Capitol Desk" and "Road to Reform" for more on the defeat of Prop. 45.

Proposition 46

Meanwhile, votes against Proposition 46 outnumbered the yes votes by two to one, the Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" reports (Lazo, "Washington Wire," Wall Street Journal, 11/5).

Proposition 46 aimed to improve patient safety by:

• Increasing the state's $250,000 limit on pain-and-suffering awards in malpractice lawsuits;
• Requiring doctors to undergo random drug-testing; and
• Requiring doctors to use a drug-reporting system (California Healthline, 10/31).

According to KQED's "State of Health," the campaign against Prop. 46 raised nearly $60 million -- seven times more than the campaign supporting the ballot initiative (Dembosky, "State of Health," KQED, 11/4).

Dustin Corcoran -- CEO of the California Medical Association and chair of the No on 46 campaign -- said, "Californians rejected Proposition 46 because increasing payouts in medical lawsuits would have increased health care costs and reduced access to needed medical care" (Blood, AP/U-T San Diego, 11/5).

However, Bob Pack -- author of the measure -- said that the "battle doesn't stop here," adding that his "coalition will continue to press for changes to end that cycle of preventable death, to put a dent in prescription drug abuse, ensure our doctors aren't operating under the influence and give malpractice victims a better shot at justice" (San Jose Mercury News, 11/4).

Proposition 47

Meanwhile, Proposition 47 passed by about 58% of votes to 42%, the Sacramento Bee reports (Smith, Sacramento Bee, 11/4).

The measure will change six "non-violent, non-serious" crimes from felony charges to misdemeanors, including:

• Property crimes worth less than $950, such as bad checks, forgery, fraud, grand theft, receiving stolen property and shoplifting; and
• Possession of small amounts of illicit drugs.

An independent legislative analysis found that Prop. 47 could save the state several hundred million dollars. Of the money saved:

• 65% will be earmarked for community-based mental health and drug treatment services;
• 25% will be earmarked for education; and
• 10% will be earmarked for crime victim services (California Healthline, 10/28).

Ethan Nadelmann -- executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance -- said, "The overwhelming support for this reform sends a powerful message nationally, demonstrating that voters are not just ready but eager to reduce prison populations in ways that can enhance public safety" (Sacramento Bee, 11/4).