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.
By sheer number of covered lives, Kaiser Permanente has been California’s largest health insurer for decades. But if Anthem gets its way — no longer. The Indianapolis-based insurer is currently the second-largest health insurer in the Golden State, and one of the three largest health insurers in the nation. Its planned mega-merger with Cigna is ...
As the open enrollment season for employer-sponsored health insurance gets underway this fall, experts say there’s one group that should definitely consider changing plans: people who have coverage through their former employer under the federal law known as COBRA. COBRA allows people who leave their jobs to keep their job-based group coverage for 18 months, ...
California legislators passed a bill postponing a controversial plan that would have shifted tens of thousands of medically fragile children into Medi-Cal managed care plans. The bill, AB 187, passed both houses Thursday and will be sent to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature. At issue was the fate of the California Children’s Services program, ...
California’s largest health plan group this week declared its opposition to both of the healthcare special session bills that would impose new taxes on managed-care organizations, the latest sign that a replacement for a soon-to-expire health plan tax is unlikely to emerge before lawmakers adjourn next week. Health plan taxation is the focus of the ...
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – A Democratic state lawmaker on Friday dropped his effort to allow people who are in the country illegally to buy private insurance through the state’s health insurance marketplace. Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, removed language seeking a federal waiver that would allow immigrants to purchase unsubsidized coverage through Covered California. His ...
Sutter Health Plus, the HMO health plan of Sacramento-based Sutter Health, has joined CaliforniaChoice and will offer 12 small group plan designs later this year. Orange-based CaliforniaChoice is a private exchange for employer groups and employees. Sutter recently received approval to join CaliforniaChoice from the state Department of Managed Health Care. Sutter said brokers and ...
Three more bills were introduced last week in the California Legislature’s special session on health. That brings the total to 30 bills in the special session — and counting. Bills on tobacco regulation, bills on end-of-life issues, on food labeling and on what to do with cadaveric fetal tissue. All of that is a far ...
Gov. Jerry Brown ordered the creation of a new security center Monday that will be responsible for strengthening online security to prevent cyber-attacks on state agencies. Brown signed an executive order to create the California Cybersecurity Integration Center to help reduce the likelihood of online attacks that that could leave the state and its residents ...
About 340,000 California residents ages 65 and older have incomes below the federal poverty level, but many more likely need assistance in paying for medical care, food and other expenses,according to a brief released Monday by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, KPCC’s “KPCC News” reports. Details of Brief The federal poverty level in ...
California public health officials have released a report highlighting how demographic disparities across the state affect physical and mental health, Payers & Providers reports. Details of Report The 96-page report was released by the California Department of Public Health’s Office of Health Equity. Overall, OHE Deputy Director Jahmal Miller said the report demonstrates how health ...