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.
A new state law going into effect Jan. 1 requires Californians to have health insurance in 2020 or face a penalty on their state taxes.
California Governor Gavin Newsom today signed the biggest prescription drug price bill of the year, intended to lower prescription drug prices for California consumers by hundreds of millions of dollars a year. During the first-ever health care bill signing event under the new Administration, Newsom signed AB 824
Drugmakers fought hard against California’s groundbreaking drug price transparency law, passed in 2017. Now, state health officials have released their first report on the price hikes those drug companies sought to shield.
Open enrollment for Covered California, the state marketplace that sells subsidized health insurance to Californians who do not get insurance through their employer, begins Tuesday and ends Jan. 31.
Starting in January, Californians will be required to sign up for health insurance or face a $695 tax penalty under the new state mandate.
A new California law that reclassifies some independent contractors as employees, requiring they be offered a range of benefits and worker protections, will likely expand health insurance coverage in the state, health policy experts say.
It’s shocking how far pharmaceutical companies go to keep drug prices high. Take, for example, a tactic known as “pay for delay.” It allows pharmaceutical companies to keep cheaper generic versions of their drugs off of the market.
Managers of Covered California say participating health plans will be encouraging off-exchange enrollees who qualify for exchange subsidies to switch to exchange coverage.
In late September, the California state senate approved a bill, AB-744, that if passed would result in telehealth being reimbursed at the same rate as an in-person doctor's visit. The bill is expected to be signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, and could eventually have ripple effects that touch telehealth reimbursement across the country.
State Capitol Democrats and organized labor say their new “gig” law will correct the misclassification of 1 million California workers who are falsely deemed independent contractors. But their thinking reflects a misunderstanding.