Covered California Board Concerned
The Sacramento (CA) Business Journal (6/24, Robertson, Subscription Publication) reports on how a ballot initiative that California voters will consider in November would affect the state’s health insurance marketplace. If the Insurance Rate Public Justification and Accountability Act is approved, it “would give state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones authority to reject health insurance increases considered ‘excessive.'” And while, as an “independent state agency,” Covered California can’t “weigh in on political issues,” the board made their “concern…clear” at a meeting last week. For example, board member Susan Kennedy, said, “I’m a little afraid we are tip-toeing around this. I’m afraid the effects would be huge and the risk may be felt in rates.”
