Health Plan of San Joaquin CEO invited to Sacramento for senate hearing on health cost upsurge (Mar 3, 2015)
(French Camp, CA) – Health Plan of San Joaquin (HPSJ) CEO Amy Shin testified in Sacramento in early February before the California Senate Committee on Health for a hearing on “Making Health Care Affordable: What’s Driving Costs?”
Shin told Committee members that “it has been increasingly difficult to control costs because the health plan has no control over two major costs — inpatient services and pharmaceuticals.”
As she expanded for the Senators on the drug part of the cost equation, she testified, “Drug prices are going up across the board, stretching already thin budgets for many local health plans that provide health coverage to low-income families in California. We’ve seen a 27 percent increase in generic drug prices over the last two years. Medi-Cal plans like ours are hit especially hard by high-priced specialty drugs – treating just a small number of cancer patients with six-figure oncology treatments can take a big bite out of our pharmacy budgets. Outpatient cancer drugs account for $2.12 million over a year to treat just 92 patients.”
Shin, the only California public health plan CEO invited to appear February 4 before Chairman Ed Hernandez’ State Senate Committee, attributed her invitation “to the perseverance and achievements of the entire HPSJ team as they work to keep costs low while maintaining superior health care for our growing membership in this era of Health Care Reform.”
About Health Plan of San Joaquin
HPSJ, a not-for-profit health plan initiative developed by San Joaquin County, has been serving members and the community since 1996. HPSJ is the leading Medi-Cal managed care provider in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties with nearly 300,000 members. As San Joaquin Health Administrators, HPSJ also acts as a licensed third-party administrator to San Joaquin County’s own employee health plan. For more information, visit hpsj.com.
Media Contact:
David Hurst
Vice President, External Affairs
Health Plan of San Joaquin
Phone: 209-461-2241
Text: 916-802-3734
dhurst@hpsj.com