Big insurers have retreated from Obamacare’s individual market, where fighting over the future of the health law has contributed to financial losses. They’re focusing instead on Medicare Advantage, a politically popular program that’s being embraced by a growing population of older Americans.

After all, the Oakland, Calif.-based hospital and managed-care giant is swimming against the same national trends that dented the earnings of investor-owned hospital chains in the second quarter.

Covered California on Tuesday announced that health insurance rates on the state’s health insurance exchange created under the Affordable Care Act will increase by an average rate of 12.5 percent for 2018 plans.

Administering a health and welfare benefit plan means keeping up with deadlines, and that can be a challenge. It also means planning well in advance for each new plan year and open enrollment period--and for employers with calendar year plans, that work is now underway. This newsletter highlights some deadlines and regulatory guidance available to assist employers and benefit professionals with these tasks.

Obamacare remains the law of the land, for now, perhaps nowhere more securely than in California.

When Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) halted a measure to establish single-payer healthcare in California, the bill's most dedicated backers immediately called for him to be removed from office.