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.
Imagine walking into a Nordstrom stocked with only a single pair of black shoes – no options for size, color or shape. Now think of a single insurance plan for all people, regardless of their age, income, medical needs or personal preferences.
California revenue is on pace to exceed state estimates by about $4 billion, and health and welfare programs could receive some of the extra money, according to a Legislative Analyst's Office report released Friday, the Sacramento Bee's "Capitol Alert" reports.
Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday shot down a proposal that would have required all California state legislators to get their health insurance from Covered California, the benefits exchange set up to implement Obamacare in the state.
California could serve as a model for overcoming barriers to expanding health coverage to uninsured Latino populations, according to an analysis by the Commonwealth Fund, The Hill reports.
Two states that run their own Obamacare markets—California and Washington—are blowing away the much-larger, federally run HealthCare.gov when it comes to signing up customers during a tax season grace period.
A California program that subsidizes the cost of dental services for millions of low-income children and adults has come under scrutiny in recent months for the relatively small number of people served. Critics say they hope the attention will finally drive positive changes in the program commonly known as Denti-Cal. The most recent round of ...
It may be spring outside, but HealthCare.gov seems to be ice cold. Fewer than 70,000 people have signed up for health insurance on that federal marketplace during a tax-season grace period that began March 15 and has just 10 days left to go, officials revealed Monday. If that paltry response doesn’t improve soon, millions of ...
A California Senate Health Committee voted 7-0 Wednesday to expand health care coverage for all Californians, regardless of their immigration status. The bill by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, would expand Medi-Cal eligibility for immigrants here illegally who are income-eligible. It is one of 10 bills that aims to expand the rights of people who ...
Covered California’s small employer insurance program is growing, but a private-sector competitor is growing faster. CaliforniaChoice has 12,070 employers in its program and 218,648 enrollees. That’s up from 11,500 employers and 150,000 members last August. By comparison, Covered California has 2,289 employers and 15,633 enrollees, up from 1,7000 employers and 11,500 members in August. Both ...
The largest publicly run health plan in the nation, L.A. Care, will allow customers who do not have traditional bank accounts to pay their health insurance premiums with cash. One in four Americans who were previously uninsured and eligible for federal insurance subsidies do not have a bank account, relying instead on pre-paid debit cards, ...