Battle Over Health Care Reform Rages On In California-- And Today Is The Deadline For CoveredCa Sign Ups

Over the weekend, Lee Rogers, a nationally known surgeon and the former spokesperson for the National Diabetes Association, sent out a notice to his Simi Valley, Santa Clarita, Antelope Valley neighbors that today (Monday) is the deadline to enroll in Covered California for insurance in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act. "As a doctor," he wrote "I have a strong interest in making sure everyone gets affordable health insurance. I recently spoke at a Covered California symposium where I answered questions and concerns. I also put to rest some of the rumors that have been going around about the website not working or being too complicated. Please note that the California heath care exchange is not the same as the national Healthcare.gov website, which has been in the news lately for underperformance. My campaign staffers are insured through Covered California and I want to assure you that our experiences with www.CoveredCA.com have all been positive."

CA-25 has been trending blue and last year Rogers gave anti-healthcare fanatic Buck McKeon such a close call, that he's decided to retire next year. Two Republican cronies of McKeon's, even further right and more opposed to healthcare, Steve Knight and Tony Strickland, are battling it out to succeed him. Both have abysmal records and Rogers is poised to win this seat next year. A strong supporter of universal healthcare and a Medicare-for-all approach, Rogers told us today that "California should be applauded for a near seamless implementation of the statewide insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act. Covered California has been a success where the national exchange is sorely lacking. But all the press about website malfunctions ignores the real premise of the ACA-- that about 20 million more Americans will have health insurance and insurance companies are no longer all powerful. Don't get me wrong, they still have too much power and the ACA doesn't really slow the rate of spending on healthcare. So there is much about the ACA that needs work. But who better to send to Washington to improve Obamacare than a doctor?"

That's part of why Blue America has endorsed him and why we feel good about asking DWT readers to contribute to Lee's campaign here.

Meanwhile, the White House put out a study last week about how repealing Obamacare would effect Californians. Keep in mind that although McKeon has voted to repeal all or parts of the Affordable Care Act 46 times, both Steve Knight and Tony Strickland have bragged that they would have done the exact same thing and plan to work towards repealing Obamacare and shredding the social safety net. "Helping ordinary Americans and businesses take advantage of the benefits of the health care law is a top priority for the President and Democrats in Congress," explained the White House release.

In California, the benefits of the health care law are real, and the repeal plan pushed by Republicans in Congress would undermine or eliminate them across the board, reversing critical consumer protections and driving up costs for millions of Americans. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, in California:

• 8,061,000 individuals on private insurance have gained coverage for at least one free preventive health care 
service such as a mammogram, birth control, or an immunization in 2011 and 2012. In the first eleven months of 2013 alone, an additional 2,115,600 people with Medicare have received at least one preventive service at no out of pocket cost.

• The up to 16,133,000 individuals with pre-existing conditions such as asthma, cancer, or diabetes-- including up to 2,236,000 children-- will no longer have to worry about being denied coverage or charged higher prices because of their health status or history.

• Approximately 7,559,000 Californians have gained expanded mental health and substance use disorder benefits and/or federal parity protections.

• 5,560,000 uninsured Californians will have new health insurance options through Medicaid or private health plans in the Marketplace.

• As a result of new policies that make sure premium dollars work for the consumer, not just the insurer, in the past year insurance companies have sent rebates averaging $71 per family to approximately 1,433,800 consumers.

• In the first ten months of 2013, 282,900 seniors and people with disabilities have saved on average $900 on prescription medications as the health care law closes Medicare’s so-called “donut hole.”

• 435,000 young adults have gained health insurance because they can now stay on their parents’ health plans until age 26.

• Individuals no longer have to worry about having their health benefits cut off after they reach a lifetime limit on benefits, and starting in January, 12,092,000 Californians will no longer have to worry about annual limits, either.

• Health centers have received $647,300,000 to provide primary care, establish new sites, and renovate existing centers to expand access to quality health care. California has approximately 1,200 health center sites, which served about 3,262,000 individuals in 2012.


Moving forward, the President and Democrats in Congress are committed to improving the health care law and fixing it when the need arises. Every day more uninsured Americans are signing up for plans as the website gets faster and more people with insurance are benefiting from the law.


Yet instead of working to fix the law, Republicans in Congress have tried and failed to repeal it more than 40 times. Repealing the law completely would raise premiums, allow discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, force women to pay for preventive services like mammograms, and eliminate discounts seniors get on prescription drugs.


It’s time for Republicans in Congress to stop refighting old political battles over health care, because the real cost of repeal will hit home for many hardworking families in California.