California Watch
News stories in this section spotlight activities in California, including actions by the state Assembly and state Senate; proposed legislation; regulators like the Department of Managed Health Care and Department of Insurance; and the state ACA exchange, Covered California.
For decades, Californians have generally said that immigrants, who make up more than a quarter of the state’s population and a third of its labor force, are beneficial to the state and its economy. But budget instability and concerns about rising costs are spilling into a debate over the controversial and expensive policy of allowing low-income immigrants without legal status to ...
California Republicans are turning to the Trump administration to do what they couldn’t in the Legislature: defeat a new tax on health insurers recently approved by Democrats. More than a dozen Assembly Republicans sent a letter Monday to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Centers for Medicare & ...
When Taletha Washburn and the staff at Plumas Charter School first heard that California wanted to help schools treat more kids struggling with mental health, it felt like a well-timed remedy for a rural community where families struggle to find care. Getting the program funding up and running, however, has proved difficult. Employees spent two ...
Gov. Gavin Newsom reached an agreement Friday with legislative leaders on a $351.7-billion state budget in his final year as governor, a spending plan that uses a tax windfall to avoid major cuts and lessen California’s chronic deficit in the years ahead. The deal provides nearly $2 billion in state revenue next year through tax ...
Legislators this week approved a health tax bill meant to continue critical federal funding for the state’s Medicaid program, also known as Medi-Cal. Their approval comes despite warnings from health industry leaders that the tax, as designed, will raise premiums for privately insured Californians. New federal rules are forcing the state to restructure its managed ...
Officials in the administration of President Donald Trump want to change one of the foundations of the Affordable Care Act health insurance regulation framework. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is thinking about limiting a state’s ability to adjust its ACA essential health benefits package, or standard benefits package, to suit local needs. CMS ...
For much of this year, progressive lawmakers, labor unions and advocacy groups have pushed Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature to shore up the state’s healthcare system against federal cuts by taxing corporations more. After all, proponents argued, Republicans in Washington, D.C. cut into healthcare programs for California’s most vulnerable residents to pay for ...
“This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.” California lawmakers adopted a $356 billion state budget late Monday that would largely avoid or delay billions of dollars in social service cuts Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed last month. Then, the (real) budget negotiations can begin. The vote was only a formality, because ...
When Congress allowed covid-era subsidies for health insurance to expire, California used its own funds to offset the hike in Obamacare premium costs for residents with low incomes. But the reach has been limited. As Gov. Gavin Newsom negotiates his last budget with the legislature, the Democrat wants to offer financial help to more than ...
Healthcare costs in the U.S. are growing faster than inflation, and the U.S. spends significantly more than other comparable nations on healthcare. And according to one healthcare executive, this is unsustainable. “The healthcare system is bankrupting and failing us. It requires systemic reform, and it’s not going to come from inside the industry,” said Paul Markovich, president ...