Latest California Healthline Stories
From Leaders to Laggards: Why Some States Are Giving Up on Exchanges
Several states that wanted to lead on Obamacare implementation have conceded that they failed at the crucial task of rolling out their health insurance exchanges, and they are beginning to turn operations over to the federal government.
Did California Just Save 2,300 Lives by Expanding Obamacare? Let’s Do The Math.
A groundbreaking study suggests that having insurance coverage cuts mortality risk by almost 3%. Here’s how that would play out in California, where as many as 1.9 million people who were previously uninsured may now have coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
Senate Bill To Alter Exchange Board Gets Altered, Passes Committee
A bill to increase cultural competency among Covered California board members moved out of committee one week after it appeared to be defeated.
Exchange Success Helps Nudge First Budget Near a Half-Billion Dollars
Those 1.2 million exchange enrollees came at a price. Covered California ran quite a bit over budget this year in part because of the tremendous success of exchange and Medi-Cal enrollment efforts.
Emotions Run High Over Senate Bill To Restructure Exchange Board
A Senate committee came close last week to rejecting a bill to expand the size of the Covered California board of directors even though the measure didn’t have official opposition.
How California Took the ‘Lead’ on Obamacare — and Why It’s Too Early To Take a Victory Lap
One-point-four million sign-ups on the insurance exchange. One-point-nine million Medicaid enrollees. When it comes to raw Obamacare enrollment figures, no other state comes close to California. The state has claimed its role as the lead car, but it’s still on the first lap of a multiyear race, experts say.
Exchange Spends More Than Expected on Enrollment, Retention System
The Covered California board last week approved a fiscal year 2013-2014 budget about $88 million higher than the initial $400 million spending plan for the insurance exchange, largely because the California Healthcare Eligibility, Enrollment and Retention System cost about $112 million more than expected.
More Than One Million Latinos Enrolled In Exchange or Medi-Cal in Six Months
Of the 3.3 million Californians who signed up for the exchange or enrolled in Medi-Cal over the past six months, more than a million were Latino.
Exchange To Lay Out Benefit Designs
It may seem too early to contemplate Covered California premium rates and benefit designs for 2015, but in the bureaucratic world of health care next year is almost here. Designing next year’s coverage will be an important subject at this week’s exchange board meeting.
Odd Dynamic in Senate Bill Passage
In a role reversal of sorts in the state Legislature, a Republican legislator argued for passage of an Affordable Care Act bill for patient privacy rights while health care advocates argued for administrative efficacy.