Industry Updates

With a key deadline arriving today, the state's health insurance exchange has continued to increase enrollment even as computer glitches divert some who seek to enroll or renew existing policies.

California's health insurance exchange extended its deadline for consumers who want Obamacare coverage in effect beginning Jan. 1.

Many Californians eligible for Medi-Cal or Covered California -- particularly in families of mixed immigration status -- have been reluctant to seek coverage.

The Obama administration on Thursday said that millions of people with health insurance purchased in the new federal marketplace would need to switch to different health plans to avoid increases in premiums or reductions in the subsidies they received from the government.

When Olivia Papa signed up for a new health plan last year, her insurance company assigned her to a primary care doctor.

Covered California has enlisted 14 trade groups - including the California Medical Association and California Hospital Association - to urge health providers to promote health insurance during open enrollment for the state health benefit exchange.

National health spending grew 3.6 percent in 2013, the lowest annual increase since the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began tracking the statistic in 1960, officials said Wednesday.

California's health exchange is leaning on insurance agents to enroll thousands of people in Obamacare coverage. Trouble is, some agents haven't been paid for months.

Obamacare customers who choose to re-enroll in insurance plans would automatically default to cheaper coverage during sign-up periods, protecting them from price increases, under rules proposed by the U.S. government.

Health plan sign-ups in the first four days of Covered California's second season outpaced the early days of last year's maiden enrollment period by nearly four times, the state's Obamacare health insurance exchange said Thursday.