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.
Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones today issued a notice to insurers requesting they agree to expediting claims handling for Camp and Woolsey wildfire survivors in order to help them begin the recovery and rebuilding process more quickly.
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), who is slated to be the next chairman of a House committee overseeing drug prices, said Wednesday that his top priorities on the issue are allowing Medicare to negotiate prices and speeding the approval of cheaper generic drugs.
Express Scripts Holding Co. and other pharmacy-benefit managers make money by negotiating drug prices on behalf of health-plan providers. The list prices that pharmaceutical companies set for their drugs diverge wildly from their real cost, and PBMs widen and feast on the gap, which helps make them some of the principal beneficiaries of America’s byzantine pricing system.
Supporters of the nation’s health law condemn them. A few states, including California and New York, have banned them. Other states limit them.
Access to high-quality healthcare was a recurring theme last week at the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions’ annual conference in Washington, D.C.
The lower premiums in urban areas were partially connected to more competition among plans and providers. Having more plans also means they can spread the financial risk rather than having one or two payers shoulder all of it, leading to lower premiums.
The scene is shadowy, and the background music foreboding. On the TV screen, a stream of beleaguered humans stand in an unending line.
NPs and PAs have recently taken on a larger role in primary care. Health experts say those roles will help fill primary care gaps in the coming years with physician shortages expected.
CVS expects to close its $69 billion acquisition of Aetna after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Moving swiftly to fill the highest-ranking member of his nascent administration, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom tapped Ann O’Leary, a longtime policy advisor to Hillary Clinton, to serve as his chief of staff and a leader of the transition team this fall.