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.
From presidential campaign promises to congressional hearings on the price of EpiPens, 2016 was the year that public anger over the rising cost of prescription drugs boiled into a national outrage.
White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on Thursday testified that the Trump administration does not believe $1.4 trillion worth of cuts it is proposing for Medicaid would affect children, the disabled or the elderly.
On May 4, 2017, with the passage of the Republicans’ American Health Care Act (AHCA) in the US House of Representatives, a sharp tremor was felt by California’s vast health system. The AHCA threatens withdrawal of at least $150 billion from the state’s health system over the next ten years, with the sharpest reductions felt from 2020 thru 2022. However, even if the House bill fails to become law, if history is any guide, California’s notoriously cyclical economy may not ultimately sustain the weight of the state’s expanded Medi-Cal program, posing future economic risks to its care system.
The Obamacare replacement bill narrowly passed by House Republicans earlier this month would leave 23 million fewer people insured by 2026, while reducing the deficit by less than previously estimated, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
A California bill that would eliminate health insurance companies and provide government-funded health coverage for everyone in the state would cost $400 billion and require significant tax increases, legislative analysts said Monday.
CAHU wants members to be aware the following bill scheduled for hearing in the Legislature is on its way to being signed or vetoed.
California will contribute about $1.3 billion to its Medi-Cal expansion this year, a new expenditure that will further strain an already burdened health care budget.
Blue Shield of California has the largest number of enrollees in the Covered California health insurance exchange, widening its lead over rivals Anthem Blue Cross and Kaiser Permanente, according to recently released data.
California insurance agents and advisors are teaming up with insurers and employers in the state to stop Senate Bill 562, a bill that could create a universal, government-funded health care program for all California residents.
At the unveiling of his revised $183 billion budget proposal on Thursday, California Gov. Jerry Brown pointed to a chart showing that nearly $125 billion dollars in federal health care dollars would disappear over the course of a decade if Republicans dismantle the Affordable Care Act as proposed.