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.
Among all the reasons for rising health insurance premiums, this one might be the most obscure: A long-term care insurer in Pennsylvania just went belly-up.
Democrats control every lever of power in California state government, and free from worrying about major losses to Republicans, they’re training fire instead on each other. The latest example is a recall effort against Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a strong progressive now targeted by party activists upset that he derailed a bill seeking government-funded health care for all.
A U.S. appeals court decided Monday that the federal government wrongly approved California’s request to temporarily cut Medi-Cal reimbursement by 10% during the recession for hospital outpatient care.
Under preliminary Obamacare rates announced by Covered California, premiums on exchange plans will rise by an average of 5.7 percent in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties. That’s less than half of the statewide average of 12.5 percent, and consumers could virtually avoid an increase altogether if they shop around.
Covered California on Tuesday announced that health insurance rates on the state’s health insurance exchange created under the Affordable Care Act will increase by an average rate of 12.5 percent for 2018 plans.
Obamacare remains the law of the land, for now, perhaps nowhere more securely than in California.
When Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) halted a measure to establish single-payer healthcare in California, the bill's most dedicated backers immediately called for him to be removed from office.
Republican leaders were stung by another defeat Wednesday when the Senate rejected a repeal of the Obamacare law and its mandates on coverage, taxes and Medicaid expansion.
California’s Obamacare exchange scrubbed its annual rate announcement this week, the latest sign of how the ongoing political drama over the Affordable Care Act is roiling insurance markets nationwide.
For businesses with up to 100 employees, many of which lean heavily on the advice of their broker, technology can transform an adviser from a once a year sales person into an invaluable, year-round business consultant. Those who are reluctant to jump on the technology train must adapt or die off, as they live in a world and work in an industry that is increasingly taking advantage of online tools and resources.