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VOTERS: Two Important Health Care Measures on November Ballot

July 24, 2014
Areas of interest(s): election, legislation, prop 46

VOTERS: Two Important Health Care Measures on November Ballot

Of the six measures (Propositions 43-48) that have qualified for the upcoming November ballot, two of them are health-related.

By Sergio Klor de Alva


Of the six measures (Propositions 43-48) that have qualified for the upcoming November ballot, two of them are health-related:

* Proposition 45 is an initiative statute requiring that health insurance rate changes be approved by California's Insurance Commissioner before taking effect.

* Proposition 46 is an initiative statute seeking to increase the cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, in addition to implementing other measures that will jeopardize health care access for individuals across the state and will severely impact physicians' abilities to care for patients.

Both of these propositions are sponsored by Consumer Watchdog, a not-for-profit advocacy group headquartered in Santa Monica.

In addition, two other health-related measures are awaiting signature verification and have been held by the Secretary of State's office. While these measures did not reach the necessary signature threshold of signatures to be included on the 2014 ballot, they may have enough signatures to qualify in 2016. These measures include:

* An initiative to make the Medi-Cal hospital quality assurance fee permanent. This money is used to pay hospitals for providing Medi-Cal health care services. California hospitals want to ensure that the state is not using this money for other purposes.

* A proposal that would automatically augment wages of home health workers in the In-Home Supportive Services program whenever there is an increase in the minimum wage. It would also mandate a specified amount of training for those workers

All qualified ballot measures can be viewed on California Secretary of State Debra Bowen's page. For more information about the potential consequences of Proposition 46, please visit www.noon46.com.