Industry Updates
This broad category includes articles concerning health insurance costs, carrier and health plan news, changing benefits technology, and surveys by the Kaiser Family Foundation and others on employee benefits.
California state lawmakers approved a $300 billion budget this week, but several key sticking points remain between Governor Gavin Newsom and lawmakers, which could drag out negotiations on a final spending plan. Under California law, the Legislature must approve a budget by June 15 or forfeit their pay and per diem until they do. The ...
California will cover doula services for low-income residents at more than twice the state’s initial proposed rate under a spending plan lawmakers passed last week. Some advocates welcomed the new benefit in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid health insurance program, as a step toward professionalizing this group of nonmedical birth workers. They say better pay may ...
An increasing number of Californians are feeling positive about health care, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, according to a new poll commissioned by Blue Shield of California. The poll of 1,000 Californians was conducted in February of this year.
Californians have traveled a bumpy road to post-pandemic recovery, with healthy employment and wage growth on the one hand, but soaring inflation and cost-of-living increases on the other.
Jessica Altman took over in March as chief executive officer of Covered California, and even as she was settling into a new home in Sacramento she also was making the rounds with congressional leaders to drive home just how much Californians want access to health insurance. The greatest barrier to getting it is all too ...
Five California Chamber of Commerce employment-related job killer proposals have moved on to the second house, passing a key legislative deadline on May 27 that required nontax-related bills to pass out of the house in which they were introduced. The following five employment-related bills passed the house of origin deadline on Friday: AB 2183 (Stone; D-Scotts Valley) Forced ...
A controversial push to restrict anti-competitive practices like consolidation in California’s health sector has cleared a major hurdle with its approval from the Assembly last week. Despite consistent disagreements over the bill’s provisions, the Assembly ultimately passed Assembly Bill 2080 with a 45-19 vote. It now needs to clear the Senate. Intended to combat the high health care ...
Since California expanded health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, a large number of people have been mistakenly bounced between Covered California, the state’s marketplace for those who buy their own insurance, and Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program for low-income residents. Small income changes can cause people’s eligibility to shift, but when bad information is typed into ...
In January, progressive California Democrats vowed to adopt the toughest covid vaccine requirements in the country. Their proposals would have required most Californians to get the shots to go to school or work — without allowing exemptions to get out of them.
Seven California Chamber of Commerce job killer proposals have moved on to the second house, passing a key legislative deadline on May 27 that required nontax-related bills to pass out of the house in which they were introduced.