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Anthem Blue Cross plans to go ahead with rate hikes in California
February 24, 2010
Los Angeles Times – Reporting from Sacramento – Executives from California health insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross, under fire for scheduled rate hikes of up to 39%, insisted Tuesday that their premiums were fair and legal, and they told lawmakers they expected that the increases would go forward.
Tags: health insurance, health insurance premiums, President Barack ObamaCongress opens probe into Anthem Blue Cross rate increases
February 10, 2010
The Los Angeles Times – Congress opened an investigation Tuesday into Anthem Blue Cross’ impending rate increases in California as President Obama cited the premium hikes – some as high as 39% – in his bid to pass national healthcare legislation.
Tags: Congress, Democrats, health care nightmares, health insurance premiums, Henry Waxman, House of Representatives, WellPoint, White HouseThe National Anthem – And Why We Need Health Care Reform So Desperately
February 10, 2010
Robert Reich (TPM) – My health insurer here in California is Anthem Blue Cross. When I first opted for it, it was just called Blue Cross. Then, a year or so back, I was notified that an entity called “Anthem” would now be running my insurance policy. I didn’t think much about it at the time. I’ve had the usual problems most people have with their health insurers – confusing bills, co-payments and deductibles that never seem to add up, a bureaucracy that gives every impression of being more interested in fighting me than helping me — but nothing more.
Tags: health reformSticker Shock
February 9, 2010
Jonathan Cohn (The New Republic) – When it comes to health care reform, many Americans are still asking: What’s in it for me? They should put that question to Californians who have individual insurance coverage from Anthem Blue Cross–and just learned their premiums will be going up by almost 40 percent this year.
Tags: health care nightmares, health insurance industry, health insurance premiums, health reformCalifornia Urged To Make Changes, Reform or No Reform
February 9, 2010
California Healthline – Regardless of the fate of national health care reform, California should move ahead with efforts to improve a dysfunctional system, according to state and national health care leaders who came together for a one-day conference on Feb. 4 in Sacramento.
Tags: health reformMedicaid Could Get Billions
January 31, 2010
Wall Street Journal – The White House will include an additional $25 billion in Medicaid funding for states in the federal budget to be released Monday, spending that Democrats originally hoped to include in their health overhaul.
Tags: Congress, Democrats, federal budget, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Medicaid, Nebraska, Nelson, Republicans, Sebelius, Senate, WashingtonFocus of health care bill may be changing, officials signal
January 31, 2010
CNN – Democratic efforts to pass a health care bill have stalled a bit, and the immediate focus may be shifting toward health insurance reform instead of quickly trying to pass a comprehensive bill, White House officials signaled Sunday.
Tags: Baucus, Democrats, health care reform, health insurance, health reform, House of Representatives, kennedy, Landrieu, Lousiana, Massachusetts, Montana, Pelosi, President Obama, Republicans, Senate, White HouseCalifornia Democrats Revive Universal Health Plan
January 21, 2010
The New York Times – Democrats in California revived a bill on Thursday that would create a single-payer, universal health care system in the state.
Tags: Brown, Congress, Democrats, House of Representatives, Leno, Republicans, uninsuredCalifornia Officials Ponder Next Steps in Push for Health Reform
January 21, 2010
California Healthline – Pointing to the changed political landscape after Massachusetts voters elected Republican Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate Tuesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) told the Wall Street Journal’s “Washington Wire” that Congress should slow down its approach to health care reform.
Tags: Costa, Democrats, health reform, House of Representatives, HR 3962, Massachusetts, Republicans, Schwarzenegger, Senate, uninsuredJobless Californians Hit Hard By Expiring COBRA Subsidy
December 3, 2009
Millions of unemployed Californians now have another problem on their hands in addition to looking for new jobs. The federal subsidies that cover 65 percent of the cost of a laid-off worker’s health insurance premium for a period of nine months, are starting to expire.
Tags: COBRA health insurance, health insuranceHow would government-run health insurance affect California?
November 15, 2009
MercuryNews.com – With a huge number of residents who buy health care on their own and relatively few companies selling them coverage, California is just the kind of market in need of a new government-run insurance plan, supporters of the controversial proposal dominating much of the health reform debate say.
Tags: Congress, Democrats, health insurance, health reform, Obama, public option, public planCalifornia Officials Offer Varied Views on House Health Care Reform Bill
November 10, 2009
California Healthline – California officials and advocates are offering different predictions about how the House’s recently passed health care reform bill (HR 3962) will affect California and the rest of the country, The Hill‘s “Blog Briefing Room” reports.
Tags: Congress, health insurance, health reform, House of RepresentativesInjury Upon Injury: Californians Losing Jobs Find State Health Safety Net Is Badly Frayed
November 6, 2009
Kaiser Health News – SANTA ANA, Calif. – Robin Willer slumps on the metal bench, her sweater drawn up over her swollen cheeks. “The cold hurts it,” she says, pointing gingerly to three broken teeth.
Tags: uninsured2 New Democrats to Be Sworn In Before Health Care Vote
November 5, 2009
Politics Daily – How “special” were the two special elections that the Democrats won on Tuesday night? So special that the winners, John Garamendi in California and Bill Owens in New York, will be sworn into their new jobs in the House of Representatives in time to cast their votes for the Democrats’ health care reform bill this weekend.
Tags: Congress, Democrats, health care, health insurance, health reform, public option, public planFamilies USA: Thousands of Wisconsinites losing health insurance
October 13, 2009
The Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee – An estimated 77,300 Wisconsinites lost health insurance coverage through August of this year after losing their jobs, according to a report by Families USA. The highest losses were seen in California (661,600) and Texas (396,900).
Tags: health care nightmares, health insurance, Texas health insurance, Wisconsin health insuranceState mostly fails to measure up in health care
October 9, 2009
The Sacramento Bee – Californians may lead healthier lives than most Americans, but the state’s record on health care is mostly mediocre or dismal, according to a study released today that provides a state-by-state snapshot of health care in this country.
Tags: health care, health insuranceReport: California Lags Behind Other States on Many Health Indicators
October 8, 2009
CaliforniaHealthline – California ranks 31st among the 50 states and the District of Columbia for the overall quality of its health care system, according to a Commonwealth Fund report released Thursday, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Tags: health care, health insurance, health reformDemocrats play down public health option
September 14, 2009
The Washington Times – The White House and its Democratic allies on Sunday tried to play down the role of a government insurance option in health care legislation as the party in power worked to reclaim momentum on President Obama’s top domestic priority.
Tags: Conrad, Feinstein, Hatch, health insurance, health reform, McCaskill, North Dakota health insurance, Obama, public option, public plan, Senate Finance Committee, Shaheen, Utah health insuranceCalifornia Senate approves tax on health insurers
September 3, 2009
State lawmakers pushed forward Wednesday with a $196-million plan to keep nearly 700,000 children from being yanked off a government health insurance program for the working poor.
Tags: children's health insurance plan, health care, health insuranceProposal would combat rescissions of health insurance policies in California
June 3, 2009
Los Angeles Times – California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner plans to unveil proposed regulations today to combat the health insurance industry practice of dropping members with costly illnesses.
Tags: health care nightmares, health reform, rescissionOakland duo lobbies for single-payer system
June 3, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle – Proponents of a single-payer health care system will get an audience today with a key player in federal government’s effort to overhaul the country’s health care system.
Tags: Baucus, health reform, single-payerGovernor sends an SOS to D.C. with health cuts
May 28, 2009
Redding.com – If the state’s financial crisis hadn’t gotten your attention yet, would 900,000 children’s health care – including more than 4,400 in Shasta County – do the job?
Tags: health reformNearly 1 million Californians seek medical care in Mexico annually
May 26, 2009
UCLA Newsroom – Driven by rising health care costs at home, nearly 1 million Californians cross the border each year to seek medical care in Mexico, according a new paper by UCLA researchers and colleagues published today in the journal Medical Care.
Tags: health care nightmares, health reformProposals To Cut Health Spending in California Face Opposition
May 26, 2009
California Healthline – Health care advocates are gearing up to fight Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) proposals to cut state funding for health care programs, which a legislative committee will consider in a series of public legislative hearings beginning today, the Los Angeles Times reports (Bailey/McGreevy, Los Angeles Times, 5/23).
Tags: health reformCalifornia voting on budget crisis measures
May 20, 2009
CNN – Voters in California went to the polls for a special election Tuesday to vote on budget measures designed to reduce the state’s growing deficit, which has been called a “financial Armageddon.”
Tags: health reformReport urges disclosure reform on health coverage
May 16, 2009
SACRAMENTO – Ever feel stupid while signing up for health insurance? Not quite clear on just what your health policy covers? Ever ask a question of your health insurer – twice – and get two quite different answers?
Tags: health reformTaking The Debate Out Of Health Care Reform
May 5, 2009
The Huffington Post – Years ago, at a summit of nonprofit health care advocates convened by charitable foundations in Monterey California, I remember a fierce debate over how best to get health care reform. The question: If we aren’t powerful enough to beat health insurers and HMOs by regulating them, why not just join up with them to take taxpayer money and pay for more private insurance?
Tags: health reform, private health insurance, public planWomen often charged more than men for individual health insurance
April 18, 2009
San Jose Mercury News – When a woman obtains health insurance through her job, the law is clear: She can’t be forced to pay any more than a man for the same coverage.
Tags: health care, health insurance, individual health insuranceSchwarzenegger, stars lobby for U.S. health reform
April 7, 2009
Reuters – California’s Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, CEOs and celebrity doctors took up U.S. President Barack Obama’s campaign for healthcare reform on Monday, saying millions of Americans need help.
Tags: health reform, Obama, Schwartzenegger500,000 lost health insurance, report says
April 2, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle – About 500,000 working-age Californians have lost health insurance since the start of the recession, and an additional 100,000 could lose theirs by 2012 even if the economy fully recovers, according to a UC Berkeley report.
Tags: health care, health insurance, uninsuredNews categories
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