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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.

Health Law Enrollment Periods to Be Tightened

The Obama administration will tighten the rules for people who enroll in insurance through HealthCare.gov outside of official enrollment periods, hoping to hold down costs that insurers blamed on late sign-ups.

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Bill That Aimed to Shed Light on Specialty Prescription Drug Pricing is Shelved

In a battle between two Capitol lobbying heavyweights — health insurers and pharmaceutical companies — the latter scored a major win Tuesday, beating back a measure designed to provide more transparency on prescription drug pricing.

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No Health Insurance? Californians Face Tax Bite Of Up To $10,000 Per Family

Sign up for health care coverage or pay the price. That’s the message from Covered California officials, who urged consumers Wednesday to sign up for Obamacare coverage by the Jan. 31 deadline or face stiff tax penalties.

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Some Marketplace Customers Spend 25 Percent Of Income On Health Expenses

Even with subsidies to make coverage more affordable, many people who buy health insurance on the marketplaces spend more than 10 percent of their income on premiums, deductibles and other out-of-pocket payments, a recent study found. Among those hit hardest, the researchers said, are people who spend nearly a quarter of their income on health care expenses.

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CMS Unveils 21 Next Generation ACO Participants

On Monday, CMS announced that 21 organizations -- including three in California -- initially will participate in its Next Generation Accountable Care Organization Model, MedPage Today reports (Frieden, MedPage Today, 1/11).

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California Lawmakers To Revive Rx Drug Cost Transparency Bill

California lawmakers are working to revive a stalled bill (AB 463) that aimed to increase prescription drug cost transparency, KQED's "State of Health" reports (Dembosky, "State of Health," KQED, 1/12).

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Democrats, Advocates Eye California’s Booming Revenues

Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed $122.6 billion California budget plan would seem to please Democratic interests by pumping billions of tax dollars generated by the booming state economy into public schools and universities, health care for the poor and public infrastructure.

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238,000 Join Covered California for Individual Coverage Ahead of Jan. 31 Deadline

More than 238,000 Californians have joined Covered California’s health insurance exchange as of Jan. 2.

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California Budget: Gov. Jerry Brown’s Plan Includes Framework for Deal on Health Plan Tax

With years of budget woes fading in the rearview mirror, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday unveiled the first draft of the state's next budget -- which includes a proposal for a new tax on health care plans that would prevent a $1.1 billion cutoff of federal funds.

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Health Insurance Exchange Enrollment Strong Ahead of Deadline

Enrollment through the state's health insurance exchange was robust ahead of a key deadline. More than 72,600 Nevadans signed up for a Nevada Health Link plan between Nov. 1 and Saturday, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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