First Bills Introduced in Special Session on Health Care Reform
Both houses of the legislature have introduced measures in
Governor Brown’s week-old extraordinary legislative session on
health care reform, signaling lawmakers’ interest in moving
quickly to expand Medicaid and implement key provisions of the
Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Bills in both houses – ABX1 1 by Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez
and Assembly Member and Health Committee Chair Richard Pan, and
SBX1 1 by Senate pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg and Health
Committee Chair Ed Hernandez, would expand eligibility for
Medi-Cal for single childless adults up to 137 percent of the
Federal Poverty Level. This is often referred to as the Medicaid
Expansion, and is a top priority for the Legislature.
Senator Hernandez also introduced SBX1 2, which codifies
provisions related to insurers in the individual and group
markets.
Special Session hearings on these measures and other issues have
not yet been scheduled.
The Governor has tasked the Legislature with tackling issues
related to the state’s private health coverage market, required
changes to Medi-Cal, and the creation of a safety net subsidized
insurance program, similar to the concept of a Basic Health Plan,
which would allow low-cost health coverage through the Exchange
(called Covered California) for those with income up to 200
percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Because of the
Governor’s broad language in issuing the proclamation for the
Special Session, the Legislature may also take up the Medicaid
expansion, as above, and other issues.
