Foundation had contract disputes with the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento and the Valley Prime Care Center in Fresno, causing uncertainty in the reliability of service providers. Foundation also closed clinics in Auburn, Natomas, Ventura, and Oxnard.
Cost also appears to be a significant factor in the selection of a health plan.
Health plans that don't provide high quality service at competitive prices will lose market share to those that do. Fewer CalPERS members switched health plans in 1997 than in the prior year, with 4.5 percent or 19,395 of the more than 434,000 existing CalPERS members with health benefits changing health plans during the open enrollment period from September 1 through October 15, 1996. This is down from the 5.3 percent or 22,132 members who switched plans in the prior year. CalPERS is the second largest purchaser of health plans in the nation, after the federal government. The pension system manages retirement and health plans for more than 1 million California employees, retirees, and their families.