‘In The News’ Archives
AB-670 Targets Pharmacist Kickback Schemes
California State Assembly Bill AB-670 aims to close a loophole in state law that allows health insurers to give a financial kickback to pharmacists every time they decide to give customers cheaper, poorer quality drugs that are not chemically equivalent to those prescribed by the customer’s doctor. AB 670, filed by California [...]
Senate Bill 281 Would Regulate Chronic Care Hybrids
Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, Calif., has introduced Senate Bill 281, a bill that would let insurers sell life insurance-institutional care hybrids that are not life insurance-long-term care hybrids. S.B. 281 would let an insurer sell a life insurance policy with a provision or rider designed in such a way that the policy would pay [...]
A Public Health Compromise for California
The Legislature is poised to offer health insurance to millions of additional low-income Californians, with the federal government covering much of the cost. The expansion would be a boon to counties, which collectively spend billions of dollars caring for the indigent uninsured. One sticking point, though, is what to do with the more than $4 [...]
CA Health Exchange Poised to Hand Out Millions in Grants
Tens of millions of dollars in outreach grants are set to be awarded next week in a massive campaign to persuade uninsured Californians to buy coverage as a linchpin in the looming health care overhaul. Applicants include community-based nonprofits, social service centers, huge labor unions and school districts - including Los Angeles Unified [...]
Wal-Mart Could Transform Health Care. But Does it Want to?
Wal-Mart is in health care, and getting further entrenched by the year. In the past six months alone, Wal-Mart launched a major contracting initiative with half-a-dozen major hospitals, and dropped hints — since retracted — that the company is exploring new services like a health insurance exchange. To understand the company's scale and [...]
State Controller Sues ANICO For Violating Unclaimed Property Law
State Controller John Chiang filed a lawsuit against Texas-based life insurance company ANICO for refusing to turn over records needed to audit the company, which is suspected of failing to pay life insurance benefits to the heirs of deceased policy holders. "In what appears to be a pervasive industry practice, many insurers are fleecing [...]
Hospitals Voice Support for Health Care Providers Protection from Medi-Cal cuts
Citing the real impact cutting the safety net would have on the most vulnerable residents, San Diego County Supervisors Greg Cox and Dianne Jacob joined with local hospital leaders today to call on the California Legislature and Governor Brown to spare hospital-based skilled-nursing facilities and other health care providers from devastating [...]
Lawmakers Approve Health Insurance Protections
Lawmakers have sent Gov. Jerry Brown a pair of consumer protection bills that prevent health insurance companies from discriminating and overcharging customers. The legislation updates California laws to match new rules under the federal Affordable Care Act. They will give state agencies the power to enforce and regulate individual insurance [...]
Employer Health Premiums Rose 170% in California in Last Decade
Premiums for employer health insurance in California jumped 170% over the last decade, more than five times the 32% increase in the state's inflation rate. That escalation in premiums has taken a toll on employers' willingness to offer health benefits, according to an annual survey by the California HealthCare Foundation. The report found that 60% [...]
Some California Leaders Want Low-Cost Health Care for the Undocumented
About a million of California's poorest undocumented immigrants would have access to basic low-cost health care under a plan being pushed at the Capitol. President Barack Obama's federal health care overhaul excludes undocumented immigrants, but some California leaders want to fill that gap by offering a safety net of primary and preventive [...]
