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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.

4 Californians Exposed To Hantavirus Being Monitored By Officials After 3 Exposed On MV Hondius

Four Californians exposed to the deadly Hantavirus outbreak linked to a Dutch cruise ship are being monitored by health officials — including one Bay Area resident who was aboard the vessel before the illness was detected. The California Department of Public Health said on Monday it is coordinating with the CDC and local health officials after three California ...

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‘Strike Force’ To Target Healthcare Fraud In Nevada, Arizona And California

A new task force will investigate healthcare fraud cases in Nevada, Arizona and part of California, the Justice Department announced Thursday. The West Coast Health Care Fraud Strike Force will combine resources from DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, and its the Health Care Fraud Section, with U.S. attorney’s offices in Nevada, Arizona and the Northern ...

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Gavin Newsom, Early Champion of Single-Payer, Moderates in the Face of Fiscal Limits

In his earliest days in the governor’s office, Gavin Newsom huddled with his advisers to consider how to realize a key campaign promise: transforming a healthcare system replete with insurance company intermediaries into the nation’s first state-run single-payer model.

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Sham Hospice Schemes Are Bilking Medicare — And Harming California Seniors

“This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.” California has emerged as the epicenter of a sweeping hospice fraud crisis, one that is costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and putting vulnerable seniors at risk. Yet years after the state acknowledged the problem, key regulatory fixes remain in limbo while ...

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Who Wants To Be California’s Insurance Commissioner? Your Guide To The Candidates

CalMatters interviewed five leading candidates who want to regulate one of the world’s biggest insurance markets. Here’s what they said.

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California Was Warned Of Shocking Hospice Fraud. Inaction Allowed Problems To Persist

Officials have failed to halt pervasive fraud in the hospice industry despite promises of reforms five years ago after learning of widespread corruption that targeted vulnerable patients. California authorities promised to crack down after a Times investigation in late 2020 revealed that a cohort of mostly older Americans was being targeted by unscrupulous providers who ...

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The Week That Scrambled The Governor’s Race

Between the collapse of Eric Swalwell‘s campaign and Donald Trump‘s surprise endorsement of Steve Hilton, the race for California governor was upended in the span of a week. Swalwell dropped out of the race Sunday night … after sexual assault and misconduct allegations threw his campaign into a tailspin. The East Bay representative, who had earlier vowed to continue his ...

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Who Controls Your Home Insurance? A High-Stakes California Race Could Decide

Few statewide elections stand to matter more this year than the race for insurance commissioner — the primary official tasked with stemming a wildfire-stoked home insurance crisis that has sent rates soaring across California. The insurance commissioner leads the state agency that approves rate hikes for home and auto plans, investigates complaints about providers and enforces ...

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California Officials Charge 21 People In Hospice Fraud Exceeding $250 Million

California officials last Thursday said they uncovered a multimillion-dollar scheme to use stolen identities from people outside the state to charge for hospice services paid for with a government insurance program.

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California Voters Will Face Dueling Ballot Propositions This Fall. Confusion is Likely

“This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.” When California voters approved Proposition 13 in 1978, they forced a massive change in how government services are financed that continues to reverberate nearly a half-century later. Prop. 13’s limits on property taxes that had financed public schools and other units of local government for ...

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