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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.

Drug Companies Conspire to Keep Prices High, Will Newsom Disrupt ‘Pay for Delay’?

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.

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California Issuers May Push Off-Exchange Enrollees Toward Exchange

Managers of Covered California say participating health plans will be encouraging off-exchange enrollees who qualify for exchange subsidies to switch to exchange coverage.

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California Bill May Have Ramifications for Telehealth Reimbursement

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.

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California’s Employment Law Was Rewritten. Many Independent Contractors Aren’t Thrilled.

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.

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California Health Advocates Urge Bold Action to Improve Quality of Medi-Cal Managed Care Plans

The California Health Care Foundation, working with researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, urged state legislators in a report released Wednesday to take bold steps to improve the quality of Medi-Cal managed care plans.

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Even in Deep Blue California, Medi-Cal Expansion for Undocumented Adults Doesn’t Sit Well with Some

It was a historic move: This summer, California became the first state in the country to offer free or low-cost health insurance to undocumented young adults who qualify.

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Newsom Appoints Richard “Fig” Figueroa Acting Director of DHCS

Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Richard “Fig” Figueroa to be the acting director of DHCS. He takes over in the interim from Jennifer Kent, who announced her resignation last week.

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Fewer People Maintain Obamacare Coverage Without Auto-Enrollment

Californians who lost the option to automatically re-enroll in an Affordable Care Act exchange plan were less likely to hold on to their insurance coverage than households that could enroll automatically, according to a study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.

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25 Californians Charged With $150M in Health Care Fraud

Twenty-five Southern California doctors and others are accused of billing Medicare and other health plans for $150 million in fraudulent charges.

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California Health Official Quits After Blasting Vaccine Foes as ‘Flat-Earthers’

California’s health care services director announced her resignation Tuesday, a move that came after she mocked opponents of mandatory childhood vaccinations as “flat-earthers” on social media.

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