Latest California Healthline Stories
State Gives Medi-Cal Enrollees Something To Smile About
More than 7 million California adults enrolled in Medi-Cal regained coverage for critical dental care, including crowns and partial dentures, this month.
Children’s Insurance, Other Health Programs Funded — For Now — In Bill
In a short-term spending bill, Congress extends money to the Children’s Health Insurance Program through March.
Bonus Tucked Into GOP Tax Bill For Those Aiming To Deduct Medical Expenses
The House sought to eliminate the tax deduction, generally used by people with serious illnesses or those who need long-term care services but it was eventually restored in the final bill — and expanded.
Despite Compressed Sign-Up Period, ACA Enrollment Nearly Matches Last Year’s
HHS announces that 8.8 million people signed up for coverage through the federal insurance marketplace.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ 2017: The Year In Health Policy
In this episode of “What The Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times discuss this week’s news, including health issues in the just-passed tax bill and a look back on the year in health policy.
No Sweeteners Added To Tax Bill To Spread Use Of Health Savings Accounts
These accounts are exempt from taxes and linked to high-deductible health plans. Republicans tried last summer in their unsuccessful efforts to replace the health law to make the accounts more enticing for consumers, but they didn’t make those changes in the current tax bill.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ Farewell, Individual Mandate
In this episode of “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times discuss health issues in the emerging tax bill, including the likely repeal of fines for those who fail to obtain health insurance. They also talk about the end of “open enrollment” for 2018 individual health insurance coverage.
Oh, That Deadline? Doesn’t Apply To California
Consumers in the 39 states served by the federally-run health insurance exchange face a Friday deadline to sign up for Affordable Care Act health plans, but Californians have until Jan. 31 to enroll.
Consumers Who Froze Their Credit Reports Could Hit A Glitch Enrolling In Insurance
The federal marketplace generally uses credit reports to help verify identities, but that doesn’t work if consumers have put a security freeze on them — as some did after the Equifax breach this year. Workarounds for this issue exist, but they make the process more time-consuming.
Why Do People Hate Obamacare, Anyway?
It’s not just ideology; a lot of people don’t understand what the law does or how it works.