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 new study finds that 75% of California’s Obamacare health plans have narrow physician networks — more limited choices than all but three other states. The latest report examines health plans sold to consumers last year under the Affordable Care Act and shows wide variation in the prevalence of narrow networks across the country. Only ...
In response to blistering criticism from a consumer group, California's Obamacare exchange vowed to fix longstanding enrollment and tax-related errors that have blocked consumers from getting coverage for months and left some with unforeseen bills.
On Thursday, the Health Consumer Alliance alleged that Covered California has failed to promptly resolve customer service issues, sometimes resulting in blocked access to care or the inability for individuals to finalize their tax returns, the AP/Washington Times reports.
Covered California is considering changing the requirement that contracted brokers and insurance agents must assist individuals enrolling in Medi-Cal without compensation when they are eligible.
California health officials on Thursday called on entrepreneurs and community innovators across the state to come up with out-of-the-box ideas for changing health approaches in six broad categories.
California plans to implement a closed drug formulary for its workers comp system and is consulting its counterparts in Texas and Washington state in its effort to reduce opioid use and overall costs, officials said.
Besides a special session on Medi-Cal, the big health care issue waiting action by lawmakers when they return from summer recess today is the high cost of new specialized prescription drugs.
The debate over new taxes and fees - a dominant theme in the final weeks of the legislative session - kicked off Monday, with some Democratic lawmakers calling for a new tax on health insurance plans to pay for Medi-Cal and other social services.
More info coming soon.
This week, President Obama signed into law a bill (HR 2514) by a California lawmaker that seeks to help veterans save money to cover health care expenses, the Lake County Record-Bee reports.