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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.

Many Privacy Rights Act Provisions Take Effect Jan. 1

Originally passed in 2018 and effective in 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is a comprehensive privacy law aimed at enhancing California residents’ privacy rights and consumer protection.

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Is California Strangling Its Golden Goose?

Citing a Bloomberg News article, Gov. Gavin Newsom crowed last month about the probability that California would soon pass Germany to become the world’s fourth largest economy. “While critics often say California’s best days are behind us, reality proves otherwise — our economic growth and job gains continue to fuel the nation’s economy,” Newsom said. Throughout ...

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4 Major California Employment Law Changes For 2023

California employers will see a number of changes affecting human resources in the new year. Major themes include compensation and leave, but employers also will need to note legislation that adds new retaliation protections for workers, attorneys told HR Dive.

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California Patients Fear Fallout From Third Dialysis Ballot Measure

Toni Sherwin is actually looking forward to the procedure that will relocate her dialysis port from her chest to her arm, which will be easier to keep dry. Since she started dialysis in February — as part of blood cancer treatment — she has washed her hair in the sink and stayed out of her ...

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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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