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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Socialist Price Controls Pushed by California Democrats




The California State Assembly’s Health Committee passed a labor-backed bill on a strict 11-4 partisan vote last week under which the state would create a commission to socialize the price of all healthcare service costs.

The “Health Care Price Relief Act,” titled AB 3087, is sponsored by Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), a fast-rising star in progressive California Democrat circles. The legislation would create the “California Health Care Cost, Quality, and Equity Commission” as an independent state agency to control in-state healthcare costs and set the amounts accepted as payment by health plans, hospitals, physicians, physician groups, and other healthcare providers in the commercial market.

The bill is opposed by the California Hospital Association (CHA), including Providence St. Joseph Health and all of its faith-based ministries. They call the legislation a poorly constructed measure that would take billions of dollars out of the state’s healthcare system while doing nothing to improve the quality of patient care in California. The CHA is especially leery of allowing a government-run price setting scheme.

The state’s powerful labor union consortium backs the bill, including the Service Employees’ International Union; California Labor Federation; Health Access and UNITE HERE; and the California Labor Federation, representing 1,200 unions with more than 2.1 million members.

The AB-3087 commission would set provider payment rates in the commercial insurance market based on a number of factors that would be tied to discounted Medicare rates. The advocates claim that the commission would make healthcare cost pricing more rational, more transparent, and more reflective of what it costs to provide medical services.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Why cant Government just do what its supposed to do... LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD.
We dont need "price controls" we need fir & honest "comparison pricing. Labor rates at auto repair shops are POSTED...estimates are given BEFORE work is performed...
AND... we need a "standardized cost of services.... (hers the US low for the procedure, heres the US high, and here is what THIS facility charges.
No more "sweethart deals" with insurance companies.... (everybody pays the same rates)
No more "we have the only patent" price fixing pharmaceuticals.
No more malpractice insurance and tort awards... (The Government, which supplies the medical licenses will investigate medical mistakes and pay-out (and pull licenses) accordingly.
Theres a START