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.
CHOICE Administrators announced today the expansion of its Choice Builder® ancillary benefits exchange to include four new MetLife Dental PPO plans. The new options are available to employers with two to 199 employees for coverage effective April 1, 2017, or later. They include three employer-sponsored Dental PPO choices and one voluntary Dental PPO plan.
The number of Californians newly signed up for health insurance through Covered California, the state’s insurance marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act, dropped 3 percent compared with last year, according to enrollment figures released by Covered California on Monday.
A California lawmaker has introduced a bill that would ban drugmakers from issuing coupons that lower patients’ prescription copayments for certain drugs. The bill by Assembly member Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg, would prohibit distribution of discount coupons for prescription drugs where a cheaper, FDA-approved equivalent exists.
Covered California announced it is giving consumers who attempt to enroll by the Jan. 31 deadline four more days to complete their enrollment.
Covered California’s fourth annual open enrollment period, set to end Tuesday, has been rocky for many consumers. During this period, two Covered California errors have affected roughly 50,000 policy holders, leading to higher-than-expected premiums or the potential loss of their tax credits
Aetna Inc. plans to stay out of the U.S. individual major medical insurance market in 2018, according to Mark Bertolini. Bertolini, the Hartford-based company's chairman, talked briefly about Aetna's plans for 2018 during a conference call the company held to discuss fourth-quarter earnings with securities analysts.
The state insurance exchange is in the final days of its fourth annual open enrollment period, which ends Jan. 31, and it has been a burdensome one for many consumers.
California officials have fined health care giant Kaiser Permanente $2.5 million for failing to turn over required data on patient care to the state’s Medicaid program. The California Department of Health Care Services said this was the first fine imposed against one of its Medicaid managed care plans since at least 2000. The state relies on the data to help set rates, ensure adequate care is available and monitor how taxpayer dollars are being spent in the program, known as Medi-Cal in California.
How much would Californians be willing to spend to keep Obamacare in the Golden State? That’s a question lawmakers might be asking residents in the months to come as President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress scurry to repeal the Affordable Care Act and scramble for a plan to replace it.
California has withdrawn its request to the federal government for permission to allow undocumented people to obtain health insurance from the state exchange, with a lawmaker linking the decision to concerns about the incoming Trump administration.