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 proposal to bring universal health care to California — replacing the private insurance market with a government-run single-payer plan — was abruptly put on hold Friday by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, all but ensuring the nationally touted measure will not pass the Legislature this year.
Two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, said Monday that they would vote against even debating the health care bill, joining Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, who made the same pledge on Friday. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin hinted that he, too, would probably oppose taking up the bill on a procedural vote expected as early as Tuesday, meaning a collapse could be imminent.
Health care costs for Bay Area residents who buy their insurance on the individual market would be more expensive under the Senate’s plan to replace the Affordable Care Act compared to the GOP House plan, according to new county-level projections of premiums and tax credits by the Menlo Park-based Kaiser Family Foundation.
Starting next month, many Californians will be protected against such surprise medical bills from out-of-network providers, also known as “balance billing.”
Senate leaders have released their Obamacare repeal bill, which would slash federal funding for healthcare and could leave millions of Americans uninsured.
The Trump administration has made critical ObamaCare subsidy payments to insurers for the month of June but won't provide any certainty about whether they'll continue in the future.
More than half of Californians fear they or their loved ones will lose health coverage if the Affordable Care Act is repealed and replaced, a new statewide poll shows.
Sutter Health and Aetna Inc. are launching a jointly owned health plan for Northern California, in the first time that Aetna (NYSE: AET) has entered a joint partnership with a health system in California.
The state exchange will now require insurers to create health plans outside of Covered California that would provide the same discounts on out-of-pocket costs that consumers get now with the so-called cost-sharing subsidies. To make up for not receiving the subsidies, insurers would be allowed to charge higher premiums - from 15 to 17 percent higher, according to Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee.
When the California Medical Association lent its support to Prop. 56 last year, they expected to get something in return if it passed: a Medi-Cal pay raise.