Author: Scott Welch

Covered California says it will give people more time to purchase health insurance this year. Open enrollment for the state's health insurance marketplace ends Sunday. But on Thursday, the agency that runs the marketplace said it would launch a special enrollment period next Monday that will run through May 15.

The Biden administration announced Tuesday it will begin direct shipments of coronavirus vaccines to retail pharmacies next week, expanding points of access for Americans to receive shots as concerns about variants of the virus expand.

Late last month, before President Joe Biden took office and proposed his pandemic relief plan, Congress passed a nearly 5,600-page legislative package that provided some pandemic relief along with its more general allocations to fund the government in 2021.

Editors Note: “This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal or financial advice. You should consult an appropriate professional prior to acting on any such information.” The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Public Law 116-260 (“CAA”), signed into law by President Trump on December 27, 2020, imposes new compensation disclosure requirements upon brokers ...

President Joe Biden panned a Republican alternative to his $1.9 trillion COVID rescue plan as insufficient Tuesday as Senate Democrats pushed ahead, voting to launch a process that could approve his sweeping rescue package on their own, if Republicans refuse to support it. Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen joined the Democratic senators for a private virtual ...

CMS on Tuesday paused three proposed rules developed under the Trump administration. The proposed rules would affect in-center dialysis coverage requirements for third-party payment programs, enable seniors to keep their Social Security retirement benefits if they opt out of Medicare Part A coverage and increase oversight of accrediting organizations. The White House budget office had ...

An effort to reopen California schools is foundering, stoking frustrations across America’s most populous state from parents eager to get their children back in classrooms and a governor who wants them there. Parents and behavioral experts say many schoolchildren are feeling helpless or depressed and need a classroom setting to improve their mental health. An ...

The White House announced Monday it is buying 8.5 million rapid coronavirus tests that can be taken at home without a prescription and that yield immediate results. The $231.8 million contract will allow the Australian company Ellume, which manufacturers the tests, to quickly scale up its production and create a manufacturing facility in the United States. Once running, ...

Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted stay-at-home orders across the state Monday in response to improving coronavirus conditions, a surprising move hailed by beleaguered businesses but that prompted caution from local health officials concerned the public may let down its guard.

President Biden is scheduled to take executive actions as early as Thursday to reopen federal marketplaces selling Affordable Care Act health plans and to lower recent barriers to joining Medicaid.