After Negotiating Lowest Premium Increase In Decades, CalPERS Parts Way With Two Major Providers
As a result, more than 14,000 members will have to find new plans, and possibly new doctors.
Sacramento Bee:
14,000 CalPERS Members Must Find A New 2019 Health Plan
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System recently negotiated its lowest premium increases in the past 21 years, which will mean lowered health premiums for 800,000 members in 2019. As a result of the changes, CalPERS will part ways with two major providers – Health Net and Blue Shield – in some areas. (Holzer, 8/15)
In other news from across the state —
KQED:
Beloved San Francisco Zen Hospice Project Confronts Its Own End
It was late May when the body of the last person to die in the guest house of the Zen Hospice Project was carried down the stairs and through the back garden, then sprinkled with flower petals. ... Now, after 30 years of caring for people with all kinds of illnesses, the house is closing its doors. The organization no longer has enough money to keep the program going. (Dembosky, 8/14)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County To Expand Mobile Shower Program For Homeless People
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to expand a pilot program to offer homeless people access to hygiene via mobile showers. The motion approved by the board will set aside up to $200,000 from Homeless Initiative funds to pay for the operation of one or more mobile shower trailers owned by the county’s Office of Emergency Management. (Agrawal, 8/14)