Four Health Plans Could Be On Hook For $10B In Back Taxes
It the court rules against them, industry critics say it would be the end to one of the biggest tax code abuses in state history, but the health plans say they aren't insurers so they are thus exempt from the tax. Meanwhile, Kaiser Permanente says its outages issues have not been caused by a cyberattack.
The San Jose Mercury News:
California's Four Largest Health Plans Could Owe State $10 Billion In Back Taxes
California's four largest health plans may be on the hook for $10 billion in state back taxes -- and at least $1 billion every year going forward -- if a closely watched legal case does not break their way. Should that happen, insurance industry critics say, it would end one of the biggest tax code abuses in state history -- one that for decades has allowed Kaiser Permanente, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California and Health Net to avoid paying a state tax on health insurance premiums. The health plans, however, say they aren't insurers and thus shouldn't be subject to the tax. (Seipel, 1/21)
The San Francisco Business Times:
Kaiser Permanente Says Website Woes, Now On Third Day, Weren't Caused By Cyber Attack
Kaiser Permanente says serious outages this week on its health website serving 10.2 million enrollees have been resolved and weren't caused by a cyberattack, although the portal still didn't appear to be fully accessible to all members as of Thursday afternoon. "As of 11:30 a.m., the kp.org website is fully accessible," officials told me early Thursday afternoon, and IT teams are monitoring the site to ensure the earlier problems don't pop up again. "Members are able to access kp.org and all its associated features." (Rauber, 1/21)