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.
On November 8, 2016, California voters passed Proposition 64, or the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, which immediately made it legal for adults 21 years of age and older to possess and cultivate specific amounts of marijuana for recreational use. (Through a variety of legislative actions, this law and the existing California law pertaining to medicinal marijuana were combined, and the combination is now known as the Medical and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act.) As of January 1, 2018, California adults can now buy marijuana from dispensaries licensed by the state of California. While several states have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes, only eight have legalized recreational marijuana, and only very recently. In this brave new world, many employers...
The political battle lines over single-payer healthcare in California are growing starker, with an alliance of doctors, dentists, nurse practitioners and other health providers ramping up their opposition to the proposal.
Time has not healed all wounds between Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and the California Nurses Association. Rendon, a Paramount Democrat, infuriated the nurses last June when he abruptly shelvedSenate Bill 562, the measure they sponsored to create a government-run universal health care system in California, calling it “woefully incomplete.”
About 342,000 Californians have signed up for health insurance through Covered California since open enrollment began in November — up roughly 7 percent compared to this time last year, according to figures released by the agency Monday.
Two years ago, Aaron LeBato of Katy, Texas, bought an 11-month, short-term health plan for himself, his wife and three children after getting dropped from an Affordable Care Act plan due to a payment system error.
With little hope of an immigration agreement this week, Republicans in Congress are looking to head off a government shutdown this weekend by pairing another stopgap spending measure with long-term funding for the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program, daring Democrats to vote no.
While the official deadline to enroll in health insurance plans for 2018 has passed, many Nevadans may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) that enables them to get coverage outside the normal Open Enrollment window, which closed on December 15, 2017. The Silver State Health Insurance Exchange (Exchange), Nevada’s state agency that helps people get affordable health coverage through the online marketplace, Nevada Health Link, is encouraging consumers to contact an enrollment professional to find out if their circumstances make them eligible to enroll at any time during the year.
Having wiped out the requirement for people to have health insurance, Republicans in Congress are taking aim at a new target: the mandate in the Affordable Care Act that employers offer coverage to employees.
Many business and employer trade associations—such as chambers of commerce or farm bureaus—have long offered health insurance to their members, which often include self-employed individuals, small businesses, and large businesses. These associations often claimed ERISA preemption from state insurance regulation, identifying themselves as employers or employee organizations under ERISA. A number of these associations defrauded their members and left millions in unpaid claims when they became insolvent.
Despite a projected $6.1 billion surplus, Governor Jerry Brown's proposed budget calls for only a modest increase in heath care spending.