State tax regulators have pulled the exempt status of health-care giant Blue Shield, one of the major participants in California's Obamacare operation. The move came in August, but was only publicized in mid-March. The story broke in the Los Angeles Times. Blue Shield of California said it was appealing the decision. It has not paid state income taxes since 1939, but does pay federal taxes. The health-care provider reportedly has ... (More)
State: Insurers misled consumers
November 20, 2014 Leave a Comment
State regulators say Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California provided "untrue" or "misleading" information about physicians connected with their health care policies sold via Covered California. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield account for more than half of the business done on the state Obamacare health-care exchange. Both of the insurance giants responded that there were problems with the state's methodology, but admitted ... (More)
Jones wins, but Prop. 45 doesn’t
November 5, 2014 Leave a Comment
California's Proposition 45, which would have given the state insurance commissioner veto power over private health insurance rate hikes, was soundly defeated in the Nov. 4 election. Newly re-elected insurance commissioner Dave Jones continues to have little say on rate increases for individual and small-business customers of the state's health insurance providers. Jones campaigned for Prop. 45, putting him at odds again with the ... (More)
10 insurers for Covered Cal 2015
August 1, 2014 Leave a Comment
Covered California has unveiled the 10 health care insurance companies that will participate in the state's Obamacare individual marketplace in 2015. All of the companies provided Covered California policies in 2014, the first year of the state healthcare exchange's operation. The 2015 Covered California companies are: Anthem Blue Cross of California Blue Shield of California Health Net Kaiser Permanente Chinese Community ... (More)
Anthem widens net, adds Cedars
May 23, 2014 Leave a Comment
Anthem Blue Cross says it has added more than 3,800 providers to its Obamacare network. New health care facilities include the world-class Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The additions come as the major insurers working with Covered California have been criticized for offering severely restricted networks to those who bought private insurance via the state Obamacare exchange. Anthem said major health-care facilities now available via ... (More)
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