A textbook case of big government compounding its blunders.
by
California Assemblyman Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) introduced a bill to control healthcare costs in the Golden State earlier this week. His legislation notes, “In California, premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance in California increased 234 percent from 2002 to 2016.”
That this massive increase coincided with both George W. Bush’s Medicare Part D prescription drug plan and Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act bespeaks a massive instance of outcomes upending intentions. The boom in costs coming during an era when government took great measures to control costs should have served as a warning to the freshman assemblyman. It did not.
Kalra’s bill explains, “It is the intent of the Legislature to establish an independent agency to regulate the cost of health care by regulating health care prices for health plans, hospitals, physicians, physician groups, and other health care cost drivers, while ensuring fair reimbursement rates for plans and providers, improving the quality of care received by Californians, and reducing health disparities among Californians.” (Read more)