Calif's Prop 45 will help keep insurance premiums lower. [View all]

[truedelphi]

Last edited Mon Sep 8, 2014, 11:36 AM - Edit history (1)

So that is probably exactly why the Big Insurers are uniting with lots and lots of their moulah to defeat the proposition.

Yes, This November, Proposition 45 will be on the ballot in the state of California.

Should it pass, it will reinforce the ability of the state’s insurance regulators to reject any and all health insurance rate increases that they deem excessive.

However, naturally, this means that the various Big Insurance Companies that are operating inside Calif. have put together a huge war chest. Their monies are going to TV, and radio ads that will play non-stop in an effort to get Calif. voters to vote the measure down and out.

From the article at Public Integrity:

Of $37.9 million donated to CAHHCC as of August 22, $37.3 million came from those insurers and their PR and lobbying group, the California Association of Health Plans. The rest came from a small group of insurance brokers and their PR and lobbying groups, the California Association of Health Underwriters and the National Association of Health Underwriters.

The main argument cited by these groups’ opposition to Proposition 45 is that it might interfere with the efforts of Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange, to provide individuals and small businesses with affordable coverage options in a timely fashion.

SNIP


California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, who is up for re-election this year, rejects that argument. In a letter to state lawmakers this summer, Jones wrote that if voters pass Proposition 45, his department — which has long had the ability to reject proposed rate increases from auto and property and casualty insurers — will work cooperatively with other state agencies “to ensure that rates are reviewed and approved to meet Covered California…deadlines.” Jones also pointed out that insurance regulators in 35 other states already have the ability to disapprove unreasonable rate increases, and he offered a point-by-point rebuttal of a report commissioned by the insurance industry that suggested Proposition 45 could undermine provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

SNIP

The industry’s key message to scare liberals, communicated by its “coalition,” is showing up in media seldom seen by most conservatives. Some of that $38 million was spent last week on an ad in Salon.com featuring a large picture of President Barack Obama and this message: “Protect Obamacare from Legal Attacks. Prop 45’s Dirty Little Secret: More Attacks Against Obamacare. Vote No on 45!”

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If you live in California please take the time to read the full article. It can be found here: (And when you vote, vote Yes! on Prop 45... )

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/09/02/15440/defeat-california-initiative-would-protect-insurers-profits