Insurance

Physician Group in Favor of Provisions Dropped From New California Law

December 11, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="block__content block--article__content" id="page_0_content_0_BlockContent"> <p>The American College of Physicians yesterday published a <a href="http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1788221" target="_blank" rel="noopener">position paper</a> in a medical journal that supports mandatory reporting of all prescription-drug dispensing -- a requirement that was stricken at the last minute from a California bill passed last legislative session.</p>

Many In Middle Class Say They’re Squeezed By Healthcare Reform

December 9, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The drum beat pulses as loud as a heavy-metal band.<br /> <br /> The chiropractor who expects her premiums to rise, the 60s-something company manager who has to pay for maternity coverage, the Simi Valley contractor and many others who make at least $46,000 a year - they all pound away at the same rhythm.<br /> <br /> They say the middle class is once again getting tattooed, this time by President Barack Obama's health care reform.<br /> <br />

Insurers Are Offered Assistance for Losses

December 2, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p itemprop="articleBody">WASHINGTON — The White House is offering more money to insurance companies as an incentive for them to let people keep insurance policies that were to have been canceled next year.</p>

Issuers Must Use CMS-Crafted Policy Cancellation Notices

November 27, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>CMS insurance chief Gary Cohen told stakeholders in a Thursday memo that in order to satisfy the administration's transitional policy on reinstating non-ACA compliant plans in 2014, insurers must inform consumers of their purchasing options using the exact language developed or approved by the agency, or CMS-approved state versions.

Rate Hikes Hidden in California’s Glowing Obamacare Reviews

November 26, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="article"> <p>During a meeting last week, officials at <a href="https://www.coveredca.com/">Covered California</a>, the state’s much-touted health insurance marketplace, made a <a href="http://www.healthexchange.ca.gov/BoardMeetings/Documents/November%2021,%202013/PPT%20-%20CCIIO%20Transition%20Policy.pdf">pretty stark admission</a>: Half of the approximately 1 million consumers whose health plans are being canceled will pay more under the Affordable Care Act.</p>

Lessons From The Cancellation Crisis

November 22, 2013  ·  Jamie Court

<p><a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/cancelledratehikes.pdf"><img alt="" src="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/images/jamiecourt_updated.jpg" style="width: 211px; height: 287px; float: right; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px;" />An analysis just released by California’s health insurance exchange</a>, Covered California, offers the first real insight into the depth of the Obamacare cancellation crisis.<br /> <br />

Covered Calif. Rejects Obama’s Health Plan Cancellation Fix

November 22, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>On Thursday, the Covered California board unanimously decided that insurers will not be allowed to continue selling policies in 2014 that do not meet the Affordable Care Act's minimum coverage requirements, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/21/states-insurance-decision-aca/3664511/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>USA Today</em></a> reports (Kennedy/Welch, <em>USA Today</em>, 11/21).</p>

Consumer Watchdog Slams ‘Covered California’ Obamacare

November 22, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Wow, Jamie Court of Consumer Watchdog is unleashing a severe volley against Covered California, saying the state Obamacare system's new data show that nearly one-half million Californians are being cancelled and will be forced to buy more expensive insurance.</p>

Covered California: Canceled Policies Will Stay Canceled

November 22, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Steve Goldsberry said he knows what California's decision not to allow canceled health insurance policies to be extended will cost him.<br /> <br /> "Six grand a year," said the Simi Valley general contractor who believes he may end up paying $500 more a month because his current policy doesn't meet the Affordable Care Act's standards. "I had insurance that was adequate. I got to choose. Now I no longer have a choice."<br /> <br />

California Will Not Extend Canceled Health Policies

November 21, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<div id="text-pages"> <div class="page" style="display: block;"> <p><strong>(11-21) 15:46 PST SACRAMENTO</strong> -- Covered California, the state's health exchange, on Thursday rejected President Obama's request to let insurers extend their current health policies, a decision that affects about 1 million Californians who have coverage that doesn't comply with the requirements of the federal health law.</p>

California’s Health Exchange Spurns Obama Directive

November 21, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="bodytext"><span id="iba2_siteCss"><span id="MNGiSection">SACRAMENTO -- It's all systems go for the federal health care law, at least in California, after the state on Thursday spurned President Barack Obama's directive that would allow millions of Americans to extend their current health insurance policies through 2014.</span></span></p>

A California-Style Fix for Obamacare’s Runaway Premiums

November 19, 2013  ·  Harvey Rosenfield

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2718" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/images_Harvey.jpg" style="width: 211px; height: 216px; float: right; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px;" width="220" height="225" />Regulation of insurance companies, introduced by Proposition 103, could repair a loophole in the Affordable Care Act.<br /> <br />