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Current State of Affairs and the Individual Mandate

December 13, 2007
On November 29th, Assembly Speaker Fabien Nunez cancelled the floor sessions to vote on AB X1 1 he had scheduled for December 5th and 6th because of a need to reach a compromise with the bill. Initially Artists United for Healthcare had been planning with Health Access a legislative visit during those days; presently we are postponing these visits until we know when the session will occur. As of now, legislative members have been told to be available to return to the Capitol within 24 hours notice.

In the mean time, we want to discuss what an individual mandate means for artists. An individual mandate will require all individuals to have health insurance. In theory this is a good idea; when quality, affordability, and accessibility are not guaranteed, however, an individual mandate will adversely affect a lot of people especially those who are forced to buy on the individual market. When buying on the individual market, an individual does not have any buying power to argue for lower rates and quality benefits. Under AB X1 1, artists and other self-employed individuals are not allowed to buy into the state-wide purchasing pool and will thus be forced to purchase insurance on the individual market; there are presently no regulations about the quality of the insurance individuals must purchase under the bill. There is, however, an affordability clause in both AB X1 1 and the governor's plan, but these clauses extend to only 450% and 350% of the poverty line respectively; individuals above these limits will not receive tax credits. In this manner, only affordability is partially guaranteed while quality and accessibility are not certain under AB X1 1 and the governor's plan; it is important that affordability, accessibility, and quality are all guaranteed under any bill that is passed.