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’s highest court has revived a high-profile lawsuit that could have a major impact on whether insurers can punish physicians who refer patients to out-of-network providers. The case, which has bounced around courts in the Golden State since 2012, pits the nearly 50,000-member California Medical Association (CMA) against Aetna, one of the nation’s largest health ...
About 225,0000 Californians lost their free or low-cost health coverage as of July 1, in the first round of a Medi-Cal renewal process that had been suspended since early in the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s approximately 21% of the over 1 million people who were due to reapply for coverage in June, according to preliminary numbers ...
Republican members of California’s congressional delegation, this week sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, urging him to end the state tax on health savings accounts. Dubbed HSAs, these accounts allow someone to set aside money on a pre-tax basis to pay for qualified medical expenses.
A major proposal from Gov. Gavin Newsom to overhaul the state’s behavioral and mental health system is likely to take nearly $720 million away from services provided by county governments annually, according to a new analysis from the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Although that money would be reallocated within the system, in part to house homeless individuals with severe ...
As the state verifies eligibility for its Medicaid program after a pandemic pause, up to 2.8 million Californians could be kicked off the rolls, officials say.
Even as some San Francisco businesses lay off workers or leave town altogether, one mammoth local enterprise is looking to expand its presence in the city. UCSF Health, San Francisco’s largest medical center and second-largest employer after the city itself, hopes to get even bigger by buying a pair of money-losing hospitals — St. Mary’s Medical Center and Saint ...
Employers in California are not legally responsible for preventing the spread of COVID-19 from their employees to the employees’ family members, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday. Workers’ compensation laws in the state do not preclude such claims, the court found. But companies also cannot be held legally responsible for preventing such infections, it said, ...
In response to a lawsuit filed by the California Chamber of Commerce, the Sacramento Superior Court has ruled that the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) must delay enforcement of any individual regulation for a one-year period following the date it goes into effect. In a ruling issued by Judge James P. Arguelles today, the court ...
For many Californians, the proposal of a state-run single-payer health system remains a ‘pie-in-the-sky’ idea, and odds are it could remain that way, especially if leading advocates can’t agree on how to get there. Democratic leaders and advocates who are looking to transform the current complex health care system are divided on their approach. On one ...
A budget deal between the governor and the state legislature will expand Medi-Cal reimbursement rates starting next year. Medi-Cal is the state’s health care program covering low-income Californians. Just over a million San Diego County residents rely on Medi-Cal for health care. Advocates hope the move will give recipients more options and better access to ...