(Governor) Brown said Sunday that he had signed the bill despite concerns about its costs. The California bill will require coverage starting in July 2012.
Opponents say SB946 will increase health insurance premiums by millions of dollars just as many people and businesses are struggling to afford their insurance coverage during tight times.
Other critics say the bill discriminates against children who are not covered by private insurance
In other words, the public be damned. So what if this has an effect on the overall cost of health care and drives premiums up?
The cost of treating and educating autistic children can easily run $60,000 or more each year.
The federal government will establish "essential health benefits" under national health care reform, Brown noted. If the coverage under SB946 isn't included as an essential benefit, the coverage will automatically disappear when the bill expires on July 1, 2014. He referenced a recent Institute of Medicine report that said the top priority under the new federal law "is finding the right balance between making coverage available for people to get the care they need and doing so at a cost we can all afford."
I find it incredulous that the government at state and federal levels is requiring insurance companies to cover more items while at the same time promising to lower premiums.
Apparently they never heard that you can't put 10 pounds of potato's in a 5 pound sack.
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