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.
Cigna and Oscar Health have announced they will exit the Small Group market in California and other states as of December 15, 2024. Cigna + Oscar exited the Covered California Affordable Care Act marketplace in 2023. Current groups with Cigna + Oscar coverage will be allowed to renew early (for coverage effective 12/1/2024) if they ...
Sutter Health was absolved this week from a California whistleblower lawsuit alleging the nonprofit system owed $519 million for double-billing patients. After a seven-week trial, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kaus ruled Monday retired surgeon Dr. Gregory Duncan and patient Gary Hulbert failed to show that Sutter’s billing practices for surgical patients were fraudulent. Duncan and ...
Blue Shield of California will partner with Included Health to provide support and service to about 400,000 CalPERS PPO members.
State health policy officials want to harness emerging artificial intelligence technology to translate a broad swath of documents and websites related to “health and social services information, programs, benefits and services,” according to state records.
California lawmakers on Thursday passed a 2024-25 budget that rejected Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to cut in-home supportive services for low-income older, blind, and disabled immigrants lacking legal residency. However, the Democratic governor has not said whether he’ll use his line-item veto authority to help close the state’s $45 billion deficit. The legislature, controlled by Democrats, passed a ...
As many as 50,000 U.S. patients’ access to treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder could be disrupted after two executives at Done, a California-based telehealth company, were indicted Thursday on healthcare fraud charges, federal officials said. The Justice Department alleges that Chief Executive Ruthia He and company clinical President David Brody schemed to provide easy ...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s growing discomfort with a proposed ballot initiative sponsored by leading health care groups is spilling out into the public amid tense discussions over the November ballot and state budget. Jim DeBoo, a top consultant in Sacramento and a former chief of staff to Newsom, confirmed to POLITICO on Thursday that he’s ...
Lawmakers in California are hoping that keeping private firms out of their health care market will help down the cost of health care there and maintain the quality.
With a deadline looming, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats in the state Legislature are working to settle their differences over access to public healthcare services, delaying minimum wage increases for workers and pausing tax credits for businesses.
California needs to repay more than $52 million to the federal government after improperly claiming reimbursement from the Medicaid program for some immigrant patients, according to a recently released report from federal inspectors.