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.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed California’s budget to close an estimated $46.8 billion deficit through $16 billion in spending cuts and temporarily raising taxes on some businesses. Lawmakers passed the budget Wednesday following an agreement between Newsom and legislative leaders in which both sides made concessions and also had wins as they were forced, for the ...
Authorities are warning of extreme health and wildfire risks across California this week, as the longest heat wave of the year is set to kick off Tuesday, bringing triple-digit temperatures, with little overnight cooling, to the vast majority of the state. “This is really just a long-duration heat event that will provide little to no ...
Gov. Gavin Newsom, state lawmakers, and health industry leaders have a small window to reach an agreement on billions of new dollars for Medi-Cal before it’s put to voters in November.
Democrats in California have agreed to delay a minimum wage increase for about 426,000 health care workers to help balance the state’s budget. The agreement is part of a larger plan to close an estimated $46.8 billion shortfall.
A federal appeals court in California has shielded a health insurer against a state-law breach-of-contract claims and other state-law claims. A three judge panel at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently found that the state-law claims had a “connection with” a benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Congress passed ERISA in ...
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 ...