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.
Everyone knows that real estate is no bargain in Northern California. It turns out that giving birth ain’t cheap either.
The National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) recently honored Sam Smith as the recipient of the Harold R. Gordon Memorial Award at the 86th Annual Convention in Albuquerque, NM. This award is the health insurance industry’s most meaningful and significant honor.
“Right now, I have a medicine sitting at Wal-Mart pharmacy that I can’t purchase till payday,” Jacqueline, a 55-year-old San Diegan told me during a telephone interview in mid-April. She asked that her last name not be used for this story. “I’ll go without, eight or nine days till payday. It’s for my high cholesterol.”
Gov. Jerry Brown approved a state budget during a busy Monday in the Capitol, where lawmakers made progress on a $2-billion proposal to shelter the homeless but put the brakes on new energy policies during an acrimonious hearing.
The Supreme Court decision Thursday effectively blocking President Obama’s immigration programs also comes as a blow to California legislators who have been fighting to offer health insurance to people living in the country illegally.
California’s insurance commissioner on Thursday recommended that federal officials block Aetna Inc.’s proposed $37 billion acquisition of Humana Inc., saying the deal would suppress market competition and harm consumers.
Drugmakers are waging a fierce campaign against a proposed California law that would require them to justify the costs of their treatments and disclose major price hikes.
House Republicans on Wednesday unveiled new proposals to repeal and replace President Barack Obama's health care law, as Speaker Paul Ryan seeks to showcase a GOP governing agenda amid the tumult of the presidential campaign.
The $122.5 billion state budget approved last week by California lawmakers will fund a variety of health-related efforts, including training of primary care physicians, dental care for school children and medical interpreters for Medi-Cal, the government-funded insurance program for people with low incomes.
Researchers at one of the nation’s largest public sector health care purchasers weighed in this week with serious concerns about the feasibility of a ballot initiative that seeks to limit how much state programs pay for prescription drugs.