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.
A Bay Area legislator is trying to level the playing field among hospital chains, particularly in Northern California, where he said studies show consolidations have led to some of the highest healthcare prices for consumers and employers in the state.
Gov. Jerry Brown stuck to his skeptical view on matters of broad healthcare reform on Wednesday, dismissing the idea of a universal health care system as something akin to a financial impossibility.
Insurance agencies that stress “soft” benefits have the upper hand in recruiting workers in today’s competitive job market.
California Democrats, labor unions, health insurers and consumer advocacy groups — along with newly joined backer Tom Steyer, the billionaire activist — are restarting their effort to shed more light on prescription drug prices after a similar measure sputtered last year.
Today State Senator Ricardo Lara, who recently co-introduced Californians for a Healthy California Act (SB 562), which amounts to single-payer healthcare for the state, announced that he will be running to serve as California's State Insurance Commissioner - a statewide elected office dedicated to protecting consumers, enforcing all insurance regulations, and safeguarding Californians' economic and health security.
Republicans are touting their health plan as the right medicine for ailing insurance markets across the country, from Arizona to Tennessee.
Word & Brown General Agency announced today it has integrated its online quoting engine, WBQuote, with the CaliforniaChoice online enrollment platform to offer brokers a more efficient enrollment process.
Dr. Wanda Heffernon, a former UCSF anesthesiologist, made headlines in 2001 when she pleaded guilty to stealing credit cards from her fellow physicians and forging prescriptions to feed her drug addiction.
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom talks to the Sacramento Bee editorial board about California Proposition 64, the California Marijuana Legalization Initiative, in August 2016 in Sacramento. Newsom has enlisted health experts to begin working on a blueprint for a universal health care system for California that seeks to improve on the Affordable Care Act.
Some large health insurance companies have suffered losses under the Affordable Care Act, leading to a few high-profile exits from the online marketplaces. Humana is just the latest, announcing in January that it will stop offering health insurance on the ACA health exchanges at year’s end.