By Peter V. Lee
I grew up in Pasadena, and every New Year’s Day meant one
thing to me and my family: the Rose Parade. This year I will be home again, up
at 6 a.m. at the Tournament House, to join the festivities and spread the word
about Covered California. Fittingly, the theme of this year’s Rose Parade is
“Dreams Come True.”
Dreams will come true for hundreds of thousands of
Californians this year. On January 1, they will get access to something they’ve
never had before, quality and affordable health care. It’s a historic day when
the Affordable Care Act becomes reality for California and the rest of the
nation.
Starting today, America is taking care of its citizens in a
way that we have never seen before. The Affordable Care Act represents the
biggest overhaul to our health care system since Medicare and Medicaid almost
50 years ago. As I’ve said many times before, it’s a day when health care
becomes a right and not a privilege in our country.
For the first time, insurance companies are covering everyone
eligible, even if they have a pre-existing condition, and they will no longer
be allowed to cancel your policy if you get sick.
All insurance plans are now offering a comprehensive set of
essential health benefits, including doctor visits, preventive care,
hospitalizations and prescriptions. Plus, they will no longer have lifetime or
yearly caps on coverage.
And the Affordable Care Act helps bring quality health care
within the reach of millions who were previously left out, by providing them
with the financial help they need to cover themselves and their families.
In some parts of the country, the Affordable
Care Act has continued to be a political football, and, sadly, the people
harmed by the continued efforts to undercut and impede the implementation of
the law are those who need care and can benefit the most.
Here in California, however, we’ve taken a
different path. I’m often asked, “Why are things working so well in
California?” Well, as we go into the new year with the new potential benefits
of health coverage for millions, I wanted to provide the shorthand answer: It’s
all about people coming together to do the right thing.
Let me note that as pleased as we are with our
progress in California — progress that is marked by more than 400,000 enrolling
directly through Covered California, many more signing up directly with health
plans and many hundreds of thousands enrolling in Medi-Cal — we know that the
road has been bumpy, with challenges for some consumers that we know are likely
to continue in the weeks and months to come as we move from coverage to
actually providing care. But those bumps along the way are inevitable when
launching a new program this large and complex.
We in California have started this new era of
coverage and quality care in ways that show the promise of what we can deliver,
even with those bumps, for a number of reasons. While things are not perfect,
the reason that we’ve started out strong runs through every element of our
success: people in California who have invested time, passion and commitment to
making this work. They include:
·
Gov. Jerry
Brown and the California Legislature, which decided to use the Affordable Care
Act’s provision and expand Medi-Cal. They have continued their efforts to get
the word out.
·
The
public workers who are part of Covered California, the California Department of
Health Care Services, the regulators at the Department of Managed Health Care
and Department of Insurance, and other parts of the state. Public servants like
David Maxwell-Jolly, who is retiring after helping launch our CoveredCA.com
website on time and on budget.
·
The
leadership and staff of California’s counties who are on the front lines of
coverage expansion.
·
The private-sector
partners — the insurance agents, chambers of commerce, health insurance
companies, technology firms, marketing and communications companies, leaders
from the entertainment industry and social media, and many others — that have
truly been partners in making this effort succeed.
·
The
consumer, union and advocacy organizations — many of whom have been working for
decades on the policies to promote universal coverage who have now turned their
attention to implementing the Affordable Care Act right.
·
The
community-based organizations and philanthropic groups that have donated time
and money to spread the word.
·
The
doctors, nurses, community clinics, medical groups and hospitals that have led
not only on the enrollment and education front, but also on our focus on the
next step — ensuring that all those who enroll get needed care.
The list is long, and it is impossible to name
all of those who have and are making Covered California and the Affordable Care
Act deliver on the promise of this year’s Rose Parade theme of making
“Dreams Come True.” But the most important individuals
are the consumers and patients in every community of California — individuals
who are taking to heart the “Tell a
Friend — Get Covered” campaign
that we are leading. They are getting coverage and reaching out to their
friends and families.
I look back on 2013 with deep
gratitude for the thousands who have brought us to this moment in history. I
look ahead to 2014 knowing there will be challenges, but comforted in knowing
that California is on right side of history as we keep our eyes on the prize of
ensuring quality, affordable health care is available to all of our residents.
