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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.

CHOICE Administrators Announces New CEO

CHOICE Administrators today announced a new leader for its organization, which operates the California Choice private health insurance exchange and the Choice Builder ancillary benefits exchange, which together serve more than 450,000 members.

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Newsom’s Tough Sell on Healthcare: Persuading Public on Fines for Those Without Coverage

Five months after unveiling a sweeping plan to lower health insurance costs for middle-class Californians, Gov. Gavin Newsom now must sell the politically unpopular part of his proposal — hefty fines on those who do not have medical coverage.

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CalPERS Projecting Steep Health Insurance Increases. One Plan Could Rise 24 Percent

The premiums state workers and retired public employees pay for CalPERS health insurance are projected to go up 7.2 percent on average next year, with premiums for specific plans increasing as much as 24 percent, according to preliminary estimates published Tuesday.

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Private Insurers in California Pay More than Double what Medicare Does for Similar Services

A new analysis of financial data from general acute care hospitals in California reveals that private insurers paid, on average, 209 percent more than what Medicare paid for similar services in 2015 and 2016.

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Newsom Changes Course On Plan To Pay For Immigrant Health Coverage

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration Friday reversed course on his plan to divert public health dollars from several counties to help provide health coverage to young adults who are in the country illegally.

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It’s Time to get the Votes, Gavin Newsom Hits the Road to Promote His Health Care Ideas

As the deadline to strike a budget deal approaches, Gov. Gavin Newsom is launching a statewide tour to promote his plans to shore up Obamacare and expand state health coverage to young undocumented adults.

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Broker of Record Scam Busted

Helen Lee, 39, a licensed insurance broker, has been charged with nine felony counts of identity theft after allegedly using others’ personal health information to forge fraudulent agent of records forms in the hopes of receiving unearned commissions.

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How Stricter Vaccine Laws Spared California from a Major Measles Outbreak

More than 750 people have been diagnosed with measles in the United States this year, the most cases nationwide in more than 20 years. Health officials say that more than 500 of those people had not been vaccinated.

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Newsom Wants CA to Expand Undocumented Immigrant Health Care

R. Lopez moved to the United States from Mexico when she was 3. By the time she was in high school, the aspiring Spanish teacher from Oxnard needed glasses to drive and to see the whiteboard in her classes. 

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Newsom Plans to Take on Big Pharma Over Prescription Drugs. L.A. County Wants In

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ambitious plan to rein in prescription drug costs through a statewide purchasing system — pooling the power of California’s largest public and private buyers — has a new ally: Los Angeles County.

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