Many Say High Deductibles Make Their Health Law Insurance All but Useless

Obama administration officials, urging people to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, have trumpeted the low premiums available on the law’s new marketplaces. But for many consumers, the sticker shock is coming not on the front end, when they purchase the plans, but on the back end when they get sick: ...

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What Paul Ryan’s Election to House Speaker Means for the Affordable Care Act

In a recent interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” newly elected House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) signaled a need for change in the House leadership, saying he will redesign the job and return the House to “regular order.” Despite his stated desire for change, the top issues Ryan plans to address — tax reform and ...

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Legislation Cut California’s Workers’ Compensation Medical Costs

Three years ago, Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature enacted a major overhaul of the system that compensates workers for job-related injuries and illnesses. Senate Bill 863, backed by employers and labor unions, affected many specific aspects of the system but was aimed largely at reducing medical costs and redirecting savings into cash benefit increases ...

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Many Eligible for ObamaCare Subsidies Not Claiming Them

Most of those eligible for health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act are failing to claim them, according to a new study. Researchers with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute estimated that more than 24 million people were eligible for ObamaCare tax credits last year. By March, only 41 percent of ...

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95 California Hospitals Named ‘Top Performers’ by Joint Commission

On Tuesday, the Joint Commission recognized more than 1,000 hospitals in California and other states as “Top Performers” for achieving high performance on key quality measures, the Biloxi Sun Herald reports (Biloxi Sun Herald, 11/16). The fifth-annual “Top Performer on Key Quality Measures” list was included in the organization’s 2015 annual America’s Hospitals: Improving Quality ...

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New Data Show Greater Health Disparities Among Ethnic Groups

There are major differences in health care status among different types of Asians and Latinos in California — and yet the state so far has resisted treating those subgroups differently, according to UCLA researchers who released an updated version of health survey data last month. “Data clearly show the need to disaggregate the Asian community ...

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