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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.

That’s A lot of Scratch: The $48,329 Allergy Test

The English professor from Eureka, Calif., always had been sensitive to ingredients in skin creams and cosmetics. This time, however, the antifungal cream she was prescribed to treat her persistent rash seemed to make things worse. Was she allergic to that, too?

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California Nurses Move Their ‘Medicare-for-all’ Fight to the National Stage

The union representing 100,000 nurses across California has shifted its “Medicare-for-all” campaign from California to the national stage, perhaps relieving political pressure on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom to fulfill what the union sees as his top campaign promise: Delivering a single-payer health care system in the nation’s largest state.

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Spending Against Dialysis Ballot Measure In California Breaks Record

With the midterm election less than two weeks away, the dialysis industry has made Proposition 8 the most expensive on the California ballot this year — and has broken the record for spending by one side on any statewide ballot measure.

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In California, Novel Initiatives test Cities’ Power – And Will – To Tame Health Costs

At a time of mounting national anger about rising health care prices, the country’s largest union of health workers has sponsored ballot measures in two San Francisco Bay Area cities that would limit how much hospitals and doctors can charge for patient care.

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Gavin Newsom Is Bullish On Single-Payer – Except When He’s Not

Twenty minutes before the only scheduled 2018 California’s gubernatorial debate, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom rolled into the San Francisco parking garage in a black SUV. Through the tinted windows, a soft overhead light slightly illuminated the front-runner’s chiseled features and slicked-back hair.

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Trump Administration Takes Another Step to Allow Health Plans That Don’t Cover Preexisting Conditions

The Trump administration Monday took new steps to broaden the availability of health plans that don’t have to cover patients’ preexisting medical conditions, signaling that the federal government would support state proposals to promote more sales of these skimpier plans.

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Marketplace Subsidies May Be Option In 2020 For Plans That Skirt Obamacare

States would be able to use federal funding to provide subsidies to people buying short-term health insurance policies, which typically don’t provide comprehensive coverage, under guidance released Monday by the Trump administration.

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Trump Administration Loosens Restrictions on Health Reimbursement Arrangements

The Trump administration is proposing to allow U.S. workers to use tax-free health reimbursement arrangements to shop for coverage in the individual market. It's another move aimed at expanding consumer choices and lowering costs for small businesses.

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2.7 Million Californians Don’t Have Health Insurance. Can that Number Go Lower?

After a streak of steady declines, California’s uninsured rate bottomed out last year with some 2.7 million people still without health coverage.

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Medicare For All? CMS Chief Warns Program Has Enough Problems Already

The Trump administration’s top Medicare official Tuesday slammed the federal health program as riddled with problems that hinder care to beneficiaries, increase costs for taxpayers and escalate fraud and abuse.

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