Health Care Reform

California women who have dense breast tissue will get more information following their routine examinations under a state law that took effect on April 1.

SB 1538 (Simitian) provides a simple notification requirement that ensures that a woman is aware of her breast density so she can make informed decisions about her healthcare.

The initiative would require health insurance companies to submit proposed rate increases to the Department of Insurance, which could deny or modify an excessive rate hike.

AB 52 would bring California in line with 35 other states that require some form of prior health insurance rate approval by state regulators.

Excessive health insurance rate increases have placed health care coverage out of the reach of 8.2 million Californians – with millions more barely making ends meet due to industry profiteering.

This measure implements and improves on the provisions of federal health reform by maximizing the uninsured and underinsured enrolled in the Exchange and Medi-Cal on January 1, 2014 when the Exchange opens and Medi-Cal Eligibility expands to cover adults without children under 18 at home.

For the first time in history, every child in California is now eligible for health insurance coverage. But it’s up to parents to take advantage of these opportunities to get better care and coverage for children, and more economic security for their families.

In issuing this emergency regulation, I declared my intention to implement federal health care reform here in California despite the efforts of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives to repeal or defund health care reform.

The bill would make all California residents eligible for specified health care benefits which would, on a single-payer basis, negotiate for or set fees for health care services provided through the system and pay claims for those services.

Read our detailed "health of nations" fact sheet to get a comprehensive analysis of the shortcomings of our health care system and specific ways it can be improved.

U.S. health care costs over two trillion dollars a year. That's sixteen percent of our gross domestic product and rapidly rising.

Strenuous opposition from health insurance industry goliaths like Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Kaiser, Health Net, and PacifiCare, sunk legislation to create oversight of insurance rate increases.

While the governor's proposal contains some good provisions, it is, on balance, unacceptable. Ten months after it was first put forth as a concept, the governor has made almost no movement to address its many shortcomings.

Our system of private for-profit health insurance is a disaster for the uninsured and insured alike. Nearly seven million Californians lack health insurance. Insurance co-payments for workers are skyrocketing, and the responsible businesses that do cover their employees are being crushed under the rapid escalation in insurance premium rates.

On November 24, 2003, Governor Schwarzenegger released a state spending cap that has alarmed health care advocates. Californians that obtain health care through MediCAL or Healthy Families would face immediate benefit cuts. Perhaps more troubling is the unprecedented power that the proposal places in the governorýs hands.

Millions of Californians who contact the state's new health exchange to buy insurance will be given the opportunity to register to vote, too.

A new Medicare program that punishes hospitals with high patient readmissions is forcing administrators to improve how patients are cared for even after they are wheeled out the hospital doors.

Walmart shoppers probably didn't expect to be greeted by taxpayers protesting the Walmart Loophole, which allows large companies like Walmart to avoid their responsibilities to pay their fair share for their workers' health care.

Government health spending in California now exceeds the size of the entire state general fund budget.

The Medical Board of California would be stripped of its power to investigate physician misconduct under a sweeping reform plan by legislators who say the agency has struggled to hold problem doctors accountable.

Premiums for employer health insurance in California jumped 170% over the last decade, more than five times the 32% increase in the state's inflation rate.

Lawmakers warn that they will let the agency expire next year if it doesn't become more aggressive in taking action against dangerous doctors.

Commissioner Dave Jones ripped Anthem for raising rates 5.2 percent on small businesses. He said Anthem's rates on those customers have jumped 10.5 percent in the past year, which he called "excessive and unreasonable."

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

A 2014 initiative would let the insurance commissioner reject health premium hikes deemed excessive. Insurers have begun their campaign against it in earnest.

Health insurers are privately warning brokers that premiums for many individuals and small businesses could increase sharply next year because of the health-care overhaul law.

Hundreds of thousands of Californians covered by the state's largest health insurers are facing double-digit premium hikes, and regulators and consumers are pushing back.

Even states that back Obama's healthcare law worry about a jump in some insurance premiums as it takes effect.

Health insurer Anthem Blue Cross agrees to reduce the average increase to 14% from 18% in response to regulators' criticism.

Millions of uninsured Californians will soon be required to buy health insurance or face a penalty, and Wednesday morning they got a glimpse of what to expect.

As the state moves to expand healthcare coverage to millions under President Obama's healthcare law, it faces a major obstacle: There are not enough doctors to treat a crush of newly insured patients.

Health care limits like the one imposed by UC are already illegal under the sweeping federal health-care law - dubbed Obamacare - but the health care act does not apply to "self-funded" college plans like UC's.

Covered California will use part of the money to market itself to the estimated 5 million Californians who will be eligible to use the health exchange.

A consumer group is suing Anthem Blue Cross over a new policy that requires HIV patients to get their medications by mail. A San Diego man who is HIV positive is the lead plaintiff.

In order to help implement the Affordable Care Act overhaul in California, Gov. Brown proposed a major expansion of the public insurance program in the state budget.