Individual Health Insurance Still Slow to Change
October 2010
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a
California health insurance law today that is historic in its scope and has the potential to change how medical coverage is offered and priced for all state citizens.
At least it will be in 2014, when
individual health insurance will theoretically be available from state run insurance exchanges.
According to Bloomberg, by signing the bill Schwarzenegger makes California the first state to begin arrangements for the medical coverage outlined by the
Healthcare Bill passed last Spring.
The individual health insurance that will then become available to the public will be cheaper, and will allow for a minimum of coverage through laws designed to ensure that all consumers receive adequate medical care. It will also include free wellness exams, and no lifetime limits for coverage, among the provisions.
California health insurance became a subject of hot debate last Spring when much publicized rate hikes - of up to 39% in some cases - drew the attention of the White House. These rate hikes were later withdrawn by the insurance agencies that had proposed them in light of the political firestorm they had ignited.
Facts on:
California Health Insurance
Did you know...
One out of four Californians has no medical coverage?
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Individual health insurance itself tends to be more expensive than group coverage, and for this reason men and women who don't get medical coverage through their employer often go without any at all.
However, the state run insurance exchanges propose to make individual coverage more available to those who need it. That is, they will do so if the Healthcare Bill is still intact in 2014, and if the state can still afford to do so with the help of the Federal Government.
Some opponents of the bill argue that it will raise insurance costs, while others paradoxically argue that the bill doesn't do enough to offer low cost California health insurance to all state citizens.
With so much division regarding the state of
medical coverage and the outcome of the new bill, how the California health insurance market will look by 2014 is still anyone's guess.
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