AB 8: "Really Great"

It looks like the affordability issues have been taken care of with regards to AB 8 and it now has the pretty much full support from the labor and consumer groups. The bill is now on the Assembly floor and seemed destined for Arnold's desk. While, he has promised a veto, the more pressure that is brought to bear on him the better. This bill does an excellent job creating large group pools, from both programs open to all to join and an expansion of governmental programs that will help reduce expenses. Naturally, Blue Cross et. all strongly oppose the plan.

He has been pledging to bring the legislature back for a special session. The goal would be to hash out a compromise. Weintraub has a good overview of what's going on and how such an agreement will be likely created. (h/t to Dave). He starts off talking about AB8.

The legislation would outline a program requiring nearly everyone in California to buy insurance, with subsidies for people making less than four times the federal poverty rate, or about $80,000 a year for a family of four. Insurers would have to cover everyone who applied, regardless of pre-existing conditions, and could not charge customers more because they had been sick in the past.

The subsidies, along with an expansion of free care for the poorest of the poor, would be financed by a new payroll tax, an increase in the sales tax, a special fee on hospitals and an infusion of federal money. The new state charges would be put before the voters because they would require a two-thirds vote for approval in the Legislature, where Republicans have vowed en masse to oppose any increase in taxes or fees.

But before such a deal can be reached, Democrats might send Schwarzenegger legislation that would place the entire burden for expanding access to insurance on employers -- an approach the governor has already said he would reject. Labor union supporters of the Democrats may want to force Schwarzenegger's hand on that issue before any discussions about a compromise can occur.

Once Schwarzenegger vetoes that bill, if it comes to him, he would call the Legislature back into a special session to focus on health care and a handful of other issues. If that happens, the governor's aides believe they could reach agreement with lawmakers relatively quickly.

If so, such a deal would set the stage for a ballot measure campaign in 2008 that would promise Californians two things: an expansion of health insurance to millions of people who lack coverage today and protections against losing coverage for people who already have it.

It is a risky proposition to go to the ballot. This is however, positive movement. The legislature is going to pass a good bill. Hopefully, the special session will produce another one.