The following analyses represent my opinions. The SD Free Press editorial board may or may not agree with me. For all our articles on the upcoming election, check out our 2014 Progressive Voter’s Guide.
There are no special interests more special than insurance companies, doctors and lawyers. Here we have two propositions involving all three groups. And there is more subterfuge going on than anybody can keep track of.
Monies from the committees supporting and opposing the different measures overlap. There is a joint campaign committee in support of both 45 and 46. “No on 45″ funds have been transferred into the State GOP coffers and mysteriously reappeared three days later with interest.
Generally speaking Prop 45 is supported by consumer groups, Democrats and lawyers along with medical and professional unions. Prop 45 is opposed by the insurance industry, chambers of commerce, the GOP and blue collar trade unions.
Proposition 46 is generally supported by lawyers, consumer groups, and the California Nurses Association PAC. It is opposed by virtually the entire medical profession (it’s a phone book full of groups), organized labor, (trigger alert) the GOP, chambers of commerce and the ACLU.
(Endorsements are coming,soon. We just don’t meet that often)
The People Who Opposed Obamacare Have a Proposition for You
Proposition 45 – Healthcare Insurance. Rate Changes. Initiative Statute.
Supporters: Consumer Watchdog, yeson45.org
Opponents: Californians Against Higher Health Care Costs, stophighercosts.org
Ballotpedia Guide: The details, in plain English
You Might Not Know: California is the only state where auto insurance rates actually went down over the last 25 years. That’s because of Proposition 103, passed in 1989. Proposition 45 is the same kind of legislation, only for the Health Insurance industry.
My Analysis: Talk about your basic David vs. Goliath scenario. The health insurance industry has over $37 million banked to defeat Prop. 45 vs the less than $5 million raised by its proponents.
Just about every Chamber of Commerce in the state, the Republican Party, the California Medical Association and a host of trade unions all think Prop 45 is a bad idea.
The real money for the opposition, however, is coming from the Health Insurance industry. These are the same people who, while mouthing support for the Affordable Care Act, secretly pumped over $86 million into the US Chamber of Commerce campaign to defeat the bill
The gist of industry opposition to Prop 45 is that “special interests” (what the hell are the medical and insurance lobbies- non-special interests?) are out to give ONE POLITICIAN (their capitalization) new power over health care. They’re also pumping the airwaves full of vague predictions about the quality of health care services declining. (Does anybody remember the Obamacare Death Panels?)
That politician is the State Commissioner of Insurance, whose office has saved Californians an average annual savings of $345 per household, or $8,625 per family over the past 25 years on auto insurance.
Prop 45 requires companies to be transparent and truthful when applying for rate increases for health insurance. While the Affordable Healthcare Act made insurance available to millions of people, it does nothing about what they get charged for that coverage. Given that rates have gone up 185% over the past decade, maybe it’s time that California joined the 35 other states requiring insurers to justify rates for health coverage.
Please ignore the ads against Prop 45. Don’t be a sucker. Your wallet will thank you. Vote for 45.
