California Insurance Commissioner slams Anthem Blue Cross

Examiner.com

The California Department of Insurance issued a statement today condemning Anthem Blue Cross's latest rate increase in the small group market as "excessive and unreasonable." Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones cited the return on equity for Anthem, which is a for-profit organization unlike affiliated Blue Shield of California. The department also accused Anthem of charging taxes and fees in 2013 that are to be imposed in 2014.

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Dan Walters: California safety net bills will test Jerry Brown

Sacramento Bee

The first two budgets that Jerry Brown proposed after returning to the governorship cleaved deeply into California's safety net of health and welfare services serving the aged, disabled and poor. Welfare grants and medical care payments were cut, and eligibility for those and other benefits was tightened – all needed, Brown said, to bring a deficit-ridden budget under control.

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Kaiser Medical Center to Accept Expired, Leftover Prescription Drugs

Patch.com

If you have expired or unused prescription medication in your cabinet, Kaiser Medical Center is willing to help take them off your hands. Kaiser is joining with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and local law enforcement agencies in observance of National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, wherein people can safely get rid of drugs they no longer need.

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Insurers see way to dodge federal healthcare law next year

Los Angeles Times

A new fight is brewing over health insurance companies letting millions of Americans renew their current coverage for another year — and thereby avoid changes under the federal healthcare law. That may offer a short-term benefit for certain consumers and shield some of those individual policyholders from potentially steep rate increases. But critics say this maneuver could undermine government efforts to remake the insurance market next year and keep premiums affordable overall.

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California health premiums for individual buyers will rise under federal program, study finds

Sacramento Bee

Middle-class Californians counting on the federal health care overhaul to lower their insurance premiums are in for a double-digit shock next year, a new state study shows.

People or families who buy insurance for themselves could see rate increases of up to 30 percent. Millman consulting group performed the analysis, but the scope was limited to the individual market, meaning about 5 million Californians who do not receive insurance through their employers.

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Affordable Care Act opens doors for the undocumented

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Clinic director Fred Bauermeister has watched them pass through his doors for decades: chronically ill, uninsured men, women and children, who have delayed medical care because they are in the country illegally. Now, though, a political deal may be in the works that, after many years, could bring health benefits to millions of undocumented people.

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California Gets Federal Nod to Coordinate Care for Most Vulnerable Patients

New America Media

California became the fifth and largest state this week to win federal approval for a new plan aimed at improving care for almost a half-million of the state’s most vulnerable patients. Called Cal MediConnect, the new three-year demonstration program initially will enable the eight counties to pool funding and resources for so-called “dual-eligibles,” lower-income people who qualify both for federal Medicare and the federal-state Medi-Cal program for the poor (California’s name for Medicaid).

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