10 Props in 14 Minutes: What You Need to Know About Arizona’s Ballot Propositions (video)

Posted on by Pamela J. Powers

Election Day, Nov. 8, is fast approaching.

Early ballots are arriving in mailboxes all over Arizona.

Signs are popping up on street corners, in front yards and on vehicles around town.

Social media is abuzz with clever memes and video pop-ups to snag your attention and sway your vote on candidates and issues.

Traditional television advertising is carpet-bombing living rooms across the nation with negative messages fueled by special interest groups, billionaires, and dark money.

This tsunami of mixed messages from random sources with questionable credentials leaves many voters overwhelmed and wondering which messages are true and which messengers are trustworthy.

This is where constituent education comes in …

Continue reading 10 Props in 14 Minutes: What You Need to Know About Arizona’s Ballot Propositions (video)

Arizona’s Surprise Billing Law Doesn’t Go Far Enough to Protect Patients (video)

Posted on by Pamela J. Powers

On Thursday, January 16, 2020, the Regulatory Affairs Committee started bright and early with a sunset review hearing for three different departments: the Residential Utility Consumer Office (RUCO), the Department of Insurance, and the Arizona Board of Library Examiners. (This post focuses on the Auditor General’s review of the Department of Insurance.)

I have been on the Health Committee since day one and was on the Banking and Insurance Committee for two years (until it was eliminated by the Republicans). As a result, I have heard a lot of insurance bills and am very familiar with the heavy workload the Department of Insurance has. (Often, legislation gives departments more work without giving them more staff or more money.)

Primarily, my questions to the DOI director focused on surprise billing. You may remember that we passed a surprise bill in 2018. At the time, Democrats were concerned that the Republican/lobbyist crafted bill didn’t go far enough to protect patients and didn’t include a sufficient (or any) appropriation to run the surprise billing complaint department.

Continue reading Arizona’s Surprise Billing Law Doesn’t Go Far Enough to Protect Patients (video)