Public meeting on Health Care Premium Rates and Prescription Drug Cost Transparency
by the California Department of Managed Health Care and the California Department of Insurance
On Wednesday, March 11, 1 PM – 4 PM
Department of Managed Health Care,
980 9th Street, Sacramento, CA.
You may attend either in person or online.
Just when our opinion of for-profit health insurance companies couldn’t get any worse, we’ve got a doozy for you. California law requires health insurance plans to keep a certain portion of their funds in “reserve.” This requirement was created to ensure that insurance companies can actually pay our claims when the time comes. But California health insurers have WAY more money in reserve than the law requires, and they refuse to use that money to lower costs and improve service for all of us, instead of lining the pockets of executives and investors.
Right now, Kaiser Permanente, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California, Molina Healthcare, Health Net, and Aetna Health of California are collectively holding BILLIONS in reserve that could vastly improve access and lower costs for Californians. This comes on the heels of the federal “Big Ugly Bill” making huge cuts to Medi-Cal and Subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
The good news is that on March 11th we have an opportunity to hold them accountable and educate more Californians about what’s happening. The more we educate Californians about how for-profit insurance is ripping them off, the more we can build a movement to create a single-payer, Medicare-for-All type system in California that eliminates for-profit insurance companies.