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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.

Ambulance Company to Halt Some Rides in Southern California, Citing Low Medicaid Rates

For 23 years, the private ambulance industry in California had gone without an increase in the base rate the state pays it to transport Medicaid enrollees. At the start of the year, it asked the state legislature to more than triple the rate, from around $110 to $350 per ride. The request went unheeded. In September, American ...

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The Word & Brown Companies Named Among Business Insurance’s “Best Places To Work” For 2022

Business Insurance has selected The Word & Brown Companies among its “Best Places to Work in Insurance” for 2022. The award recognizes outstanding insurance-related employers for their outstanding performance in establishing workplaces where employees can thrive, enjoy their work, and help the companies grow.

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Kaiser Lands Deal with Mental Health Care Workers, Ending Two-Month Strike

Kaiser Permanente and the National Union of Healthcare Workers announced a tentative agreement Tuesday to end a Northern California mental health workers strike that stretched on for 10 weeks.

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Lawsuits, Challenges And Debates: Where California's Controversial Medicaid Contract Process Stands

California’s first-ever Medicaid managed contract procurements are a major shakeup in the state’s Medi-Cal system, which has over 12 million enrollees, or a third of California’s population. Millions of residents will switch plans as a result of the changes, and a lengthy road of appeals and legal battles could lay ahead. California selected the intended ...

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COVID-19 Regulation: Cal/OSHA Makes Big Changes Ahead of December Vote

California employers may want to get out their measuring tape — because the size (in cubic feet) of a workspace just became an important element of COVID-19 compliance. Last Thursday and Friday (October 13–14), the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) made some significant changes to ...

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Californians Are Not Getting The Latest COVID Booster. Here Is Where Uptake Is The Lowest

Have you gotten your bivalent booster yet? If you live in California, chances are the answer is no, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. As of Oct. 18, just 9% of eligible residents statewide – about 2.6 million people – have had a bivalent booster, the first COVID shot directed at ...

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These Two New COVID Variants Could Drive The Next Surge. Here’s Why They’re Causing Surprise And Concern

Concern is rapidly growing over emerging omicron coronavirus variant BQ.1 and its sibling BQ.1.1, which experts say appear to be strong candidates for a winter surge in the U.S. and could knock the BA.5 variant out of its dominant spot. The BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 variants, descendants of BA.5, were first identified in mid-July, according to ...

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Upcoming California Privacy Rights Act: Key Compliance Tasks for California Employers

California employer's reprieve from obligations to employees to disclose data privacy practices and provide access rights to employees appears to be coming to an end as the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) becomes effective on January 1, 2023.

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California To End The COVID State Of Emergency

California’s COVID-19 state of emergency will end Feb. 28, 2023, nearly three years from its initiation, officials from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced today.

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New California Law Expands Pay Scale Disclosure, Pay Data Reporting

Legislation signed by Governor Gavin Newsom last week requires employers to make pay scales available to job applicants and employees and expands California’s pay data reporting requirements.

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