The state Senate has approved a plan that would give illegal immigrants the ability to buy health insurance via Covered California. The plan, from state Sen. Ricardo Lara, left, was scaled back to require Medi-Cal benefits for those qualified under the age of 19. Undocumented adults' participation in Medi-Cal would be permitted only if state funding exists, via capped enrollments. The Covered California plan requires a federal ... (More)
Blue Shield loses tax exemption
March 20, 2015 Leave a Comment
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)
Californians: Cover illegal aliens
October 6, 2014 Leave a Comment
A majority of the state's voters support extending current health insurance programs to all low-income Californians, including undocumented immigrants, according to a new statewide poll. The poll was commissioned by The California Endowment, a foundation that has been actively working to expand health insurance access to all people, regardless of immigration status. The Affordable Care Act expressly bars undocumented immigrants from ... (More)
Vision quest ended by governor
October 1, 2014 Leave a Comment
The Legislature-approved plan to set up a vision-care service connected to Covered California suffered a veto by Gov. Jerry Brown. The governor said in his veto message that the vision-care law would lead to an unnecessary "new state bureaucracy" that would "divert Covered California's focus with a new scheme." The plan under AB 1877 was to set up an independent web site for vision-care-insurance sales to consumers. Under AB ... (More)
Blue Shield health policies extended
November 6, 2013 Leave a Comment
California's insurance commissioner says insurance companies and the state Obamacare marketplace are at fault in causing cancellation of almost a million health insurance policies. The commissioner, Dave Jones (pictured), has pressed Blue Shield of California into extending coverage for as many as 119,000 clients until the end of the first quarter of 2014. They are among the more than a million Californians with existing individual ... (More)
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