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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.

Graham – Cassidy – Heller Bill Update

Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy said there will be changes to a proposal he wrote to overhaul the 2010 health law as he and fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina try to win more support for the measure while other lawmakers focus on tax legislation.

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CaliforniaChoice 2018 Product Portfolio

CaliforniaChoice introduced its 2018 product portfolio today, which includes new benefit plan designs, rate and benefit parity with Kaiser Permanente, and a new health and lifestyle discount program for members. CaliforniaChoiceis an employee health insurance program available to small businesses and provides access multiple insurance carriers in a single program.

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Californians Back Obamacare And Dreamers, But NOT Single-Payer

Majorities of Californians want to protect immigrant children brought to the U.S. illegally and improve the Affordable Care Act – but oppose the creation of a national single-payer health care system.

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Other States Closely Watching Fate of California’s Drug Price Transparency Bill

Insurers, hospitals and health advocates are waiting for Gov. Jerry Brown to deal the drug lobby a rare defeat, by signing legislation that would force pharmaceutical companies to justify big price hikes on drugs in California.

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Why Medi-Cal Enrollees Gain Coverage But Not Broad Access To Doctors

Medi-Cal enrollee Michael Gonzalez worked for months in 2015 to get to the Sutter specialists who ultimately treated his thyroid cancer, so he felt undermined this summer when Sutter Health announced that its primary-care doctors would no longer be serving 10,000 adult patients in Sacramento and Placer counties.

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CBO Projects Graham-Cassidy Would Reduce Spending And Coverage

Late in the day on September 25, 2017, the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation staff released their report on the Graham-Cassidy bill. Their analysis was apparently of an earlier version of the bill than the one released on September 24, 2017, but the provisions described and analyzed in the CBO report are virtually the same.

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7.5 Million Californians Would Have Lost Coverage Under Latest Obamacare Repeal Effort, State Health Insurance Exchange Says

Californians who get their health coverage on the individual market could face dire consequences under the current Republican effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, warned a new analysis released Monday by Covered California, the state's health insurance exchange.

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Sanders Slams GOP, Touts Universal Health Care in California

Sen. Bernie Sanders pilloried Republican efforts to overhaul the health care system and touted his own Medicare for all plan Friday before an effusive California audience that welcomed him on stage with chants of "Run, Bernie, Run!"

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Last-Ditch Effort By Republicans To Replace ACA: What You Need To Know

Republican efforts in Congress to “repeal and replace” the federal Affordable Care Act are back from the dead. Again.

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Word & Brown Signs New Kaiser Permanente Small Group Contract

The Word & Brown General Agency has signed a new General Agent contract with Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest integrated health system, based in California. The new agreement enables Word & Brown’s vast network of health insurance brokers to write Kaiser Permanente group health coverage for small businesses (1 – 100 employees) across California effective January 1, 2018.

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