Insurance

Latest California Healthline Stories

They Annoy Patients. They Scare Docs. But Narrow Networks Might Be a Good Thing.

With legal challenges, new market entrants and recent CMS regulations, narrow networks may be a little less narrow in year two of Affordable Care Act enrollment. But there are benefits to limited networks, experts say, and patients and doctors’ frustrations with the model may have been overstated.

UC-Berkeley Study Validates Legislation To Insure Undocumented in California

A new study released two days before related legislation is due to be heard in committee suggests costs of providing health insurance for all Californians — including undocumented individuals — would be relatively low and the payoff relatively high.

Poised for Growth, Commercial ACOs Also Face Considerable Challenges

Accountable care organizations formed by private insurers and health systems face different requirements and challenges than those regulated by CMS. As commercial organizations increasingly jump on the ACO bandwagon, other private entities will be watching from the sidelines to see if they find success.

Rate Regulation Battle Lines Drawn

Strategies are taking shape in the battle over a ballot initiative to give California officials regulatory authority over health insurance rate increases. Two days after proponents staged a rally denouncing huge cash reserves held by Kaiser Permanente, opponents released a study finding that such regulation could throw a wrench in reform efforts.

High-Profile Ballot Measure Hopes To Curb Health Insurance Rate Hikes

Businesswoman Marti Conger, Jamie Court of Consumer Watchdog, R. Adams Dudley of UC-San Francisco, physician Ted Mazer, Dylan Roby of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and Robin Swanson of Californians Against Higher Health Care Costs spoke with California Healthline about an expensive and controversial November ballot measure that would give enforcement power to the state Insurance Commissioner to regulate health insurance rate hikes.