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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.

Universal Health Care Bill Dies In California

A bill that would have created the nation's only government-funded universal health care system died in the California Assembly on Monday as Democrats could not gather enough support to bring it for a vote ahead of a legislative deadline.

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California EDD Besieged With More Fraud Attempts

The Employment Development Department, which last month froze about 345,000 disability insurance claims it flagged as suspicious, announced Thursday that it suspects that a whopping 98 percent of the 27,000 medical providers associated with those claims are fraudulent.

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San Francisco Eases Mask, Vaccination Proof Rules As Omicron Recedes

San Francisco will ease its COVID-19 mask order for vaccinated gym members and office workers, and will relax rules requiring proof of vaccination when entering large indoor sports arenas, restaurants, bars and gyms, allowing unvaccinated people to enter if they show proof of a recent negative test. The move comes as the Omicron surge is ...

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Newsom Defends Maskless Photo At NFL Playoff Game

California Gov. Gavin Newsom defended himself on Monday amid outrage over a maskless photo he took Sunday with basketball legend Magic Johnson at an NFL playoff game in Los Angeles where all spectators were required to wear masks. “I was trying to be gracious, and I made a mist — you know, I mean, I ...

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COVID-19 Sick Pay In California Would Return Under Deal Between Newsom, Lawmakers

Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers reached an agreement Tuesday to again require employers to provide workers with up to two weeks of supplemental paid sick leave to recover from COVID-19 or care for a family member with the virus. The legislation, which lawmakers would likely fast-track to the governor in the coming weeks, would ...

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No Debate On Skyrocketing Cost Of California Single-Payer Bill? So Much For Good Government

This measure, after all, would completely change healthcare coverage for Californians. Insurance companies would be shoved aside. People would be switched from their current coverage — whether private, federal Medicare or Medi-Cal for the poor — to a new state-run plan called CalCare.

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California Single Payer Proposal Moves Forward

We need your help in requesting that the California Assembly OPPOSE AB 1400, which mandates a government-run single payer health care program and abolishes private health insurance, Medi-Cal, Medicare, Covered California, and the valuable advocacy services of insurance professionals.

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Word & Brown Participates in California Chamber of Commerce AB 1400 Opposition Effort

The California Chamber of Commerce and the below listed organizations are OPPOSED to AB 1400 (Kalra, Lee, and Santiago) as amended on January 24, 2022, and ACA 11 (Kalra and Lee) as introduced on January 5, 2022, as JOB KILLERS, as the bills would create a new and exorbitantly expensive government bureaucracy, which would control and finance a state-run health care system (CalCare), ultimately resulting in significant job loss to California.

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Free N95 Masks Arriving At Pharmacies And Stores Around The Country

Pharmacies and health centers around the country have begun distributing the first of the 400 million N95 masks the White House is sending out to combat the fast-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus.

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UnitedHealthcare, Kaiser Appeal ACA Risk-Corridor Settlement Deal

A group of insurers led by UnitedHealthcare and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan subsidiaries asked a federal judge to slash the $184 million in lawyers fees owed after winning health plans $3.7 billion from two class-actions related to a now-expired Affordable Care Act program. More than 30 insurers wrote to the U.S. Court of Appeals for ...

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