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.
The California Legislature has just a few days to pass a 2025-26 state budget to meet the state constitution’s June 15 deadline. The budget they enact may bear only a passing resemblance to what will eventually, perhaps many months later, become a complete fiscal plan.
The California Chamber of Commerce says weakening pharmacy networks will drive up employers' drug benefits costs.
Facing higher healthcare costs, Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing adding an “asset test” for applicants for Medi-Cal and In-Home Supportive Services. The test would mean Californians would not be eligible if their assets total more than $2,000.
Sutter Health, a 24-hospital health system based in Sacramento, Calif., is investing $23 million to expand primary and behavioral health care across Del Norte and Lake counties. In a June 2 news release, the health system said the investments aim to expand access and close critical care gaps for patients in rural communities. Six things to know, ...
GOP lawmakers have settled on a strategy, rather than lowering the income eligibility limit for coverage — Trump’s bill will instead require applicants to provide proof of their work hours and apply for specific exceptions, creating new barriers for individuals to maintain insurance.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday proposed that California roll back health care for immigrants without legal status, saying the state needed to cut benefits for some to maintain core services across the board. It’s a striking reversal for the Democrat, who had promised universal health care and called health coverage for immigrants the moral and ethical thing to ...
In the dim basement of a Salt Lake City pharmacy, hundreds of amber-colored plastic pill bottles sit stacked in rows, one man’s defensive wall in a tariff war. Independent pharmacist Benjamin Jolley and his colleagues worry that the tariffs, aimed at bringing drug production to the United States, could instead drive companies out of business ...
Gov. Gavin Newsom will seek to regulate prescription drug intermediaries, eight months after vetoing a similar bill.
Governor Newsom’s revised budget proposal diverts funding from voter-approved Prop 35 and Prop 56 health care funds to backfill the state’s deficit—violating voter intent and threatening access to care for millions of Medi-Cal patients. CMA is urging legislators to reject the proposal.
the Republican proposal could result in up to 3.4 million Californians losing their health coverage and put more than an estimated $30 billion in federal funding at risk