At a time when political consensus is hard to find, Californians overwhelmingly agree on one thing: Healthcare needs to be more affordable. But the message isn’t resonating among legislators in Sacramento
According to a study by the California Health Care Foundation, 83% of Californians said that making healthcare more affordable is “extremely” or “very important.” Yet, in June, lawmakers approved a $1.5 billion healthcare tax, which is estimated to increase healthcare premiums by about $100 per member each year
Now, even as California lawmakers continue to talk about affordability, they are considering eight healthcare mandate bills that, according to the nonpartisan California Health Benefits Review Program, would increase healthcare premiums by hundreds of millions of dollars annually
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One of the costliest proposals is Assembly Bill 1887, which would increase premiums by $148 million
AB 1887, authored by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, D-Los Angeles, would prohibit health plans from using many common utilization management tools, including prior authorization and step therapy, for FDA-approved drugs used to treat rare diseases when no generic or biosimilar alternative exists
These therapies often cost hundreds of thousands — sometimes millions — of dollars per patient. While access to treatment is critically important, removing the ability to assess the appropriate use of these extraordinarily expensive drugs would limit health plans’ ability to manage costs responsibly
If this, and the other remaining mandate bills are approved by the Legislature, employers and families could face nearly 1.7 billion in new health care costs within months
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The California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce represents more than 130 local chambers and business associations, which together represent more than 1.8 million emerging businesses across California. As president and CEO, I am deeply concerned about the cumulative impact of these costs on small businesses and their employees
For Hispanic-owned and other minority-owned businesses, many of which operate on narrow margins, these added costs can be especially difficult. Every additional dollar spent on rising healthcare costs is a dollar that cannot be used to raise wages, hire a new employee, invest in equipment or expand into a new location
Those pressures are only growing as employers contend with the state’s new $1.5 billion health care tax and the uncertainty surrounding federal healthcare changes. The consequences of rising healthcare costs are already visible, with hundreds of thousands of Californians leaving Covered California just this year
Californians have made their priorities clear: affordability matters. If lawmakers are serious about affordability, they should reject healthcare mandates that raise premiums for employers, workers and families who ultimately pay the bills
Julian Canete is president and CEO of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce
