california health insurance

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Cigna offers insurance in limited Health Exchange Markets

Cigna will offer health insurance in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Tennessee, and Texas health exchanges in 2014. However, Cigna currently offers individual and family plans in these states plus California, Connecticut, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. So this is a 50% reduction for Cigna. It is expected other carriers like […]

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Health Insurance Exchange & Reform Updates

Congress returns from a two-week recess Monday, and the federal budget is again expected to quickly become the focus of attention. Just prior to recess, the House passed a budget resolution that proposes to cut the deficit with significant changes to Medicare and Medicare. The latter would essentially be transformed […]

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Health Insurance Reform State Changes April

Governor Jan Brewer has signed a state budget that includes $1.1 billion in spending cuts and the elimination of programs that Democratic legislators say will have a disproportionate impact on the poor and children of the state. The budget eliminates $385 million from the Arizona Health Insurance Cost Containment System […]

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California Health Insurance Rate Amendments

Extensive California health insurance amendments have been made to the rate regulation bill, which will be heard this week in policy committee.  This version of the bill goes beyond the Prop 103-style rate regulation, and appears to be a conglomeration of rate regulation and the rate review bill enacted last […]

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California Health Insurance Negotiations

As negotiations with Republicans to put tax extensions on the ballot in June have stalled, Governor Jerry Brown said that he would consider a November ballot initiative to extend tax increases and bypass Republican opposition.  With $4 million left in his campaign account, funding to qualify the measure for the […]

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California Health Insurance Health Care Costs

The Assembly and Senate California Health Insurance Committees held a hearing last week examining why health care costs continue to escalate.  The hearing included testimony from health insurance policy experts, hospitals, doctors, medical groups, pharmaceutical companies, purchasers and health insurance plans. Aetna insurance worked with other insurers to brief legislators […]

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States Fight Back On Health Care Reform

When the nation’s governors came calling at the White House last week, President Obama greeted his guests with the offer of new flexibility toward implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The President said he is willing to give states an earlier opportunity to opt out of […]

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Very Busy Week In Individual Health Insurance Reform

If you’re keeping score, three federal judges have now ruled in favor of the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) while two have ruled against it. The latest to weigh in was a federal judge in the District of Columbia who last week upheld the constitutionality […]

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The Real Deal On Health Insurance Reform

Without being too specific, President Obama signaled a willingness to consider changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) during his State of the Union speech last week. The only detail referenced, though, was the proposed elimination of a tax-reporting provision of the law that is unpopular with […]

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California Health Plan & Health Insurance

In California health insurance, Governor-elect Jerry Brown appointed Diana Dooley (a Democrat) as the next secretary of California’s Health and Human Services Agency. Dooley currently serves as president and CEO of the California Children’s Hospital Association and previously worked as a special assistant to Brown during his previous term as […]