Whether you favor or oppose mandated health care, Covered California, California’s state-based health insurance marketplace, can boast some impressive numbers. Nearly 3.4 million previously uninsured Californians now have health care coverage through Covered California or Medi-Cal — one of the most historic expansions of health coverage in the history of our state and nation.
For nearly three and a half years Dana Howard and Chris Rauber have worked tirelessly to share news about Covered California with consumers and the business community. Howard is the person who’s been putting out the news, and Rauber is a key person who’s been covering the news-about California’s response to the Affordable Care Act.
At our May 24 luncheon you’ll have a special opportunity to hear these two pros together. What challenges have they had to overcome in reporting the successes and failures of the program’s first years? Has their relationship been collegial or adversarial — or both?
Despite the program’s many successes to date, many questions exist:
- Are risks being shared across a wide enough mix of younger and healthier consumers?
- Do employers and insurance companies have contingencies in the event that a Republican president can repeal the Affordable Care Act?
- What’s been learned from some of the glitches during Covered California’s rollout and beyond?
- Will enrollment decline when subsidized premiums end?
- What have been the responses to ongoing political challenges?
- What’s been the net effect on insurance costs in the state?
Our speakers will offer timely commentary on these and other issues that attendees wish to bring up during our program.
Dana Howard joined Covered California as deputy director of communications in January, 2013, and Chris Rauber has been the health care reporter for the San Francisco Business Times since 2004. Come join them, and your colleagues, as we explore what it’s been like to cover Covered California.