Assembly Select Committee on Universal Coverage Holds Third Hearing

On Wednesday, the Assembly Select Committee on Health Care Delivery Systems and Universal Coverage convened an informational hearing on achieving better access and greater value in California. The hearing featured a range of speakers exploring Medi-Cal enrollees’ access to care and physicians, stark differences in provider payments, costs of healthcare, and coverage in California.

One speaker, Larry Levitt, Senior Vice President of the Kaiser Family Foundation, noted that designing health care systems is particularly difficult, especially when looking to secure waivers. He encouraged committee members to think about where they would like the system to go and incremental steps that could be taken to get there.

Committee Co-Chair Assembly Member Joaquin Arambula shared the saying, “an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure”, as he offered his thoughts around the fragmentation of the health care system.  As done in previous hearings, he continued to stress the importance of investing in prevention strategies.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Co-Chair Assembly Member Jim Wood announced the next committee hearing will be held on February 7 and will include a panel discussion on SB 562, the universal, single-payer measure introduced by Senator Ricaro Lara and passed by the California Senate last year.

Hearing materials from Wednesday’s hearing are available here.