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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.

More Californians Are Insured in 2016, But Many Still Worry About Medical Costs

Nearly three-quarters of Californians who didn’t have health coverage before the Affordable Care Act are now insured, yet many are still concerned about their medical expenses, according to a report released Thursday.

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3 Million Californians Will Be Uninsured in 2017, Report Estimates

Health reform has greatly expanded the number of Californians with insurance, but slightly more than 3 million residents will remain uninsured in 2017, according to a new report.

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Drug Price Transparency Bill Clears Key Hurdle in California Legislature

Controversial California legislation requiring drug companies to justify treatment costs and price hikes jumped one more hurdle Thursday, just a few weeks before the end of the legislative session.

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Covered California Losses Cited by Blue Shield for Labor Day Workload Adjustment

Blue Shield of California is shutting down for the four days after Labor Day to reduce its payroll-related liabilities, citing losses in California's Covered California Obamacare exchange and other commercial and individual lines of business.

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When It’s Time To Split Up The Family

All five members of the Wadstein family have Covered California’s most comprehensive — and expensive — level of health insurance, even though the two youngest children are the only ones who need that kind of plan.

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How Common Procedures Became 20 Percent Cheaper for Many Californians

At a time when health care spending seems only to go up, an initiative in California has slashed the prices of many common procedures.

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Medicare Levies Higher Average Penalties on SoCal Hospitals for High Readmission Rates

The region's average penalty was just over one-half of 1 percent of total Medicare reimbursements; last year it was one-third of 1 percent. Still, that's lower than the national average, says Jordan Rau, a Kaiser Health News journalist who interpreted the annual Medicare data.

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Covered California 2017 Rate Hikes Will Hit State’s Central Coast Hardest

Last fall, a bladder condition forced Carmen Anguiano to leave her job at a packing shed in Salinas, a farming community off California’s Central Coast.

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Better Access To Medi-Cal For Kids Living In California Illegally

Tens of thousands more immigrant children in California are receiving full Medi-Cal benefits just a few months after a state law took effect that expanded their access to the government-subsidized health program.

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Covered California Seeks Obamacare For People Living In US Illegally

Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange, has released a draft of a waiver under Obamacare that must be approved by the federal government before the exchange can begin selling health plans to undocumented immigrants.

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