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.
California voters will choose between two Democrats for insurance commissioner in November as the state faces growing wildfire risk, skyrocketing insurance prices and some insurers leaving the state. State Sen. Ben Allen and former San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim are competing for the office. Allen, who was interviewed in fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades, an area he ...
Many seniors and disabled people in California who need long-term care will soon face a dramatic reduction in assets they can keep and still qualify for Medi-Cal. Starting in July 2027, the individual limit will fall from $130,000 to $21,000, while the limit for couples will drop from $195,000 to $31,000 when they apply for ...
California’s highest court on Monday ruled in favor of Gilead Sciences (GILD.O), opens new tab in a closely watched case addressing whether manufacturers of drugs that are considered safe must try developing drugs that could be safer. In a 6-1 decision, the California Supreme Court ordered the dismissal of negligence claims against Gilead by an estimated 24,000 ...
California House Republicans are asking the Trump administration to prevent Democratic state leaders from implementing a new tax on health insurers. Six House members, including Reps. Kevin Kiley, I-Rocklin, and James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, sent a letter Friday to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Centers for Medicare ...
The Trump administration is withholding more than $1 billion in Medicaid funding to California and Minnesota over what it deems suspect claims. Tuesday’s funding suspension is the latest action by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to target Medicaid funding in the two states. More than $2.5 billion has been deferred from them due ...
The Trump administration cancelled $2 billion of research grants to University of California professors. Their legal team says it has proof that those terminations were unconstitutional.
Employers are bracing for what could be the highest rise in health insurance premiums in 16 years in 2027, driving up the average cost of family coverage in California to more than $30,000 — the price of a new compact car. Health insurance companies expect the cost of medical services and prescription drugs to soar ...
The fate of the state’s $2 billion plan to maintain health insurance for low-income and disabled Californians is now in the hands of Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor and Republican administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. State Republicans appealed directly to Oz in a letter on Monday, asking him to reject Gov. ...
The state’s economy started 2026 as the nation’s No. 2 performer – its highest ranking among U.S. states for business growth in just over a dozen years. That bit of Golden State economic sparkle was discovered by my trusty spreadsheet in its review of state-by-state gross domestic product figures for the first quarter from the U.S. Bureau ...
As the Trump administration’s January deadline looms for states to enforce new Medicaid work requirements, some state lawmakers are turning the tables by pushing to publicly name the largest companies that have employees enrolled in the government program covering low-income and disabled people. California lawmakers seek to revive an expired law that would require the state to ...