SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A state legislative committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would require California's health insurance exchange to make more contract information publicly available, even as advocates for open government urged lawmakers to go further.
The Senate Health Committee voted 9-0 to pass the legislation by Republican Sen. Bill Emmerson and Democratic Sen. Mark DeSaulnier. They introduced the bill, SB332, after a story by The Associated Press revealed the unique degree of privacy granted to Covered California, as the exchange is called.
When lawmakers created California's health insurance exchange in 2010 under the federal Affordable Care Act, they gave it the authority to conceal contracts for a year and the amounts paid indefinitely.
Under the bill, only contracts with health insurance plans could be withheld for a year. Payment details in those contracts would be private for four years.
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