CAHU Healthy Solutions

Operation Drumbeat

Operation Drumbeat for Brokers

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Your Assemblymember.

Subject:
Letter:	I write you in opposition to SB 1522 (Steinberg) which will categorize products in the individual market and specifically eliminate an entire class of affordable individual insurance products. SB 1522 will do the following: - Requires the DMHC and DOI to mandate a benefit package that is higher than what many Californians currently purchase today. Currently over 125,000 individuals are in products this bill specifically intends to eliminate. Current policy holders will be required to buy more expensive coverage than they now do in order to continue coverage. - By eliminating the lowest cost options, this bill forces individuals to make a choice between paying substantially more for coverage or going without. The individual market today offers a variety of choice and price points for consumers. For example, a 35-year old living in Los Angeles can chose from a number of products ranging from a Department of Insurance regulated product with a $5,000 deductible at a cost of $77 per month all the way up to a DMHC-regulated HMO with no deductible for $518 per month. The difference in premium costs to this individual is over $5,000 per year. - Force thousands of individuals who are uninsurable but currently have coverage to go without or get on the waiting list for the California high risk pool (MRMIP) where the policy will cost as much as nine times more. - If even 10% of the individuals in the policy choose to go uninsured because they cannot afford an increase in premium with gas at $4.00 a gallon and milk at $5.00 a gallon then 12,500 men women and children will be added to the rolls of the uninsured - Establishes a new and onerous regulatory process and bureaucracy, with substantial ongoing costs. These costs will be borne by the smallest segment of the insurance market – the individual market – and the segment that is most likely to drop insurance when costs increase. - Establishes unrealistic timelines for implementation that cannot be achieved by regulators. Failure to meet these timelines will result in individual market products becoming unavailable due to the lack of regulatory clarity. Reform that raises rates and increases the number of uninsured is not healthy for California. We request your no vote on SB 1522. Sincerely,
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