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.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Health Care and Blue Shield of California went out of network on June 29 in Santa Clara and Alameda counties. Hospitals affected include Stanford Health Care Medical Center, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto and Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley in Pleasanton. “While we are disappointed we have not reached an agreement at ...
UCSF must continue charity care, adhere to price growth caps and invest hundreds of millions of dollars into St. Mary’s Medical Center and St. Francis Memorial Hospital, the two struggling San Francisco hospitals it is acquiring for $100 million, under a settlement reached with the California attorney general. The settlement, announced Tuesday, resolves a complaint brought ...
The health care industry put a measure on the November ballot that would raise more money for Medi-Cal and block lawmakers from spending it on general government services. Billions of dollars are on the line.
Los Angeles County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to buy up and forgive millions of dollars in medical debt as part of a comprehensive plan to tackle a $2.9 billion burden that weighs on almost 800,000 residents. The measure, authored by supervisors Janice Hahn and Holly Mitchell, allows the county to enter into a pilot program with Undue Medical Debt, ...
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed California’s budget to close an estimated $46.8 billion deficit through $16 billion in spending cuts and temporarily raising taxes on some businesses. Lawmakers passed the budget Wednesday following an agreement between Newsom and legislative leaders in which both sides made concessions and also had wins as they were forced, for the ...
Authorities are warning of extreme health and wildfire risks across California this week, as the longest heat wave of the year is set to kick off Tuesday, bringing triple-digit temperatures, with little overnight cooling, to the vast majority of the state. “This is really just a long-duration heat event that will provide little to no ...
Gov. Gavin Newsom, state lawmakers, and health industry leaders have a small window to reach an agreement on billions of new dollars for Medi-Cal before it’s put to voters in November.
Democrats in California have agreed to delay a minimum wage increase for about 426,000 health care workers to help balance the state’s budget. The agreement is part of a larger plan to close an estimated $46.8 billion shortfall.
A federal appeals court in California has shielded a health insurer against a state-law breach-of-contract claims and other state-law claims. A three judge panel at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently found that the state-law claims had a “connection with” a benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Congress passed ERISA in ...
Cigna and Oscar Health have announced they will exit the Small Group market in California and other states as of December 15, 2024. Cigna + Oscar exited the Covered California Affordable Care Act marketplace in 2023. Current groups with Cigna + Oscar coverage will be allowed to renew early (for coverage effective 12/1/2024) if they ...