This week in CA: Affordable Care Act Roundup

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State lawmakers approve Medi-Cal expansion, paving the way for at least an additional 1 million low-income Californians to enroll. Critics say Wal-Mart has no business peddling health-insurance plans on behalf of the state’s health benefit exchange. Blue Shield of California and Aetna move forward with unpopular double-digit insurance rate increases, despite protests from state officials.

Whew! It’s been a busy week on the health-care front in California:

– Yesterday, the California State Legislature approved the expansion of Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program covering low-income families and individuals, to include Californians making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The expansion, which was motivated by efforts to comply with Obamacare, is expected to add at least 1 million Californians to the program. The federal government will cover the cost of expansion for the first three years, but the state must cover 10 percent thereafter. The Assembly passed its bill 53-22, while the proposal gained approval with a 24-7 vote in the Senate.

– Some labor unions and consumer advocates oppose Covered California’s proposal to allow consumers to shop for health-care plans at Wal-Mart, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday. Critics say the retailer should not advise consumers on the purchase of health insurance when the company does not provide adequate health-insurance coverage for its own employees. Some suggested legislation that would require retailers promoting health plans for the state’s health benefit exchange program to offer comprehensive health benefits to employees. Supporters of the proposed partnership said the goal was to reach a vast number of currently uninsured consumers.

– Despite protests from state officials, Blue Shield of California and Aetna plan to move forward with proposed rate increases of approximately 11 percent (average) for 27,000 Blue Shield individual policy holders and 20,000 Aetna small-group policyholders, according to California Healthline. On Thursday, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones criticized Blue Shield of California for the rate increase, which he called “unreasonable.” However, there’s nothing currently that Jones or the state can do about it, but Jones wants to introduce a ballot measure that would give his office the power to block “unreasonable health insurance rate increases.” “It’s the big omission in the Affordable Care Act,” Jones told the L.A. Times. “I believe the rates will go up and go up dramatically” in 2014, when the law is fully implemented.