‘Legislative Analysis’ Archives
Fiscal Cliff Deal Retirement Plan Revenue Boost Questioned
One modest way that U.S. lawmakers were able to offset the impact of delaying spending cuts in the deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" was through a retirement plan provision that is supposed to raise $12.2 billion over 10 years. The only problem is that some retirement and fiscal policy experts doubt whether enough people will take advantage of the [...]
Medi-Cal Expansion Could Hit California Budget
Expanding the state's Medi-Cal program to meet new federal guidelines could add up to $4 billion a year in costs at the same time California is implementing federal health reform, potentially putting its budget "right out of whack," Gov. Jerry Brown said Thursday. Brown said his administration is seeking federal waivers for some of the proposed [...]
Many States Say ‘No’ to Health Insurance Exchanges
Many GOP governors not setting up state-run exchanges. Half of the states in the nation have rebuffed a key provision of the Obama administration's health reform law: the creation of state-based health insurance exchanges, according to data compiled by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. State-based health insurance exchanges are a key [...]
Providers Say Cuts to CA Medicaid Could Hurt Reform
Health providers say California's cuts to its Medicaid program Medi-Cal will hamper the state's ability to expand and improve healthcare under President Barack Obama's overhaul. A federal appeals court backed California's right to cut payments by 10%, saving the state more than $330 million a year. Doctors, pharmacies and advocates for the poor [...]
Lawmakers Face Tight Deadline To Tackle Health Reform
California lawmakers are up against a tight deadline to get the state ready for the full rollout of healthcare reform. A variety of major decisions need to be made quickly. States are required to launch their new online insurance marketplaces by January 2014. But California wants to open registration next October. Anthony Wright, who directs [...]
Commissioner Jones Not Ready for Life Regulations Overhaul
Commissioner Dave Jones said that he was not ready to vote for the life insurance regulations overhaul because the industry did not yet have a firm enough grasp on what resources would be required for its implementation. The current proposal says that insurers would need to dump their current system, which uses formulas from the industry as a [...]
Four-Year Fight Leads Lesbian Couple to Supreme Court’s Door
Within weeks of Karen Golonksi's wedding, she applied to add her spouse to her employer-sponsored health care plan, a move that would save the couple thousands of dollars a year. But because Golinski is married to another woman and works for the U.S. government, her claim for benefits has morphed into a 4-year multi-layered legal challenge to a [...]
CA Health Board Considers Plan for Marketplace
The board overseeing California's efforts to establish an insurance marketplace for providing affordable health care approved its operational blueprint Wednesday, an essential step toward meeting a key deadline under the federal health care reform law. The governor's office is expected to forward the plan to the Obama administration. "We don't [...]
Jerry Brown Clear to Embark on More Visionary Policy
The new revenue generated from Governor Jerry Brown's Proposition 30 means that for the first time in almost a decade and a half, the state had truly balanced its budget. And for the first time in more than 120 years, Democrats on Tuesday captured two-thirds of both houses of the Legislature, freeing the Democratic governor to embark on a more [...]
California Speeds Revamp of Health Insurance Market
With President Obama's reelection lifting a potential roadblock, California officials are rushing to implement the federal healthcare law and revamp the insurance market for millions of Californians starting next fall. Republican challenger Mitt Romney had vowed to overturn the Affordable Care Act, casting uncertainty over efforts in [...]
