With the specter of the Affordable Care Act being struck down by the Supreme Court, Secretary Dooley said her goal was to develop the board as fully as possible with the funds provided from the original legislation. Secretary Dooley is also the chair of California Health Benefits Exchange Board.
The aim of California’s health insurance exchange is to be a consumer-focused market place where state residents can easily shop for affordable health insurance from among several carriers. Of course, it will be more difficult to expand affordable coverage if the individual mandate is ruled unconstitutional.
Secretary Dooley noted that without the individual mandate there is the issue of affordability for people. One of the biggest hurdles for California to overcome would be the loss of Federal funds to implement some of the programs outlined in the Affordable Care Act.
As Secretary Dooley reminded the listeners, California has been in the lead with health insurance reform with legislation to reduce rescission and cancellation of policies and to review rates and contain costs. California has also required that there can be no gender bias in health insurance rates. Traditionally, men and women were charged different rates, usually with rates for women being higher through out their life time.
When asked if California should move forward with an individual mandate if the Supreme Court strikes it from from the ACA, Secretary Dooley mentioned how California was one of the first states to mandate car insurance and has considered such a mandate in the past. Secretary Dooley said in the interview, “..I think California could well be one of the first to have mandatory health insurance.”
Regardless of what happens with the Supreme Court, California is decidedly moving in a direction that will attempt to fulfill the promise of the ACA which is to offer affordable health insurance to everyone, not just the healthy people.