MORE ON: health insurance

Across the country, doctors, hospitals and insurers are forming new health care entities to increase the efficiency and quality of health care, and lower the cost of it. Called accountable care organizations, these groups are gaining ground, even though critics consider them a repackaging of HMOs... + read more

For the majority of California's nearly 7 million uninsured residents, today's landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on health care reform means they will have access to health care coverage in the next few years. About 1.5 million of the uninsured will be covered by Medi-Cal, California... + read more

Although they live near the trappings of a fit and healthy lifestyle, close to lush golf courses and luxury day spas, Coachella Valley residents are sicker and in poorer health than other Californians, according to a new analysis of multiple health studies. In a comparison of... + read more

A bill that would give government agencies a strong hand in determining health insurance rates was lobbied by at least six dozen groups between April and July. This makes it possibly the most controversial of the bills before legislative appropriations committees as they move to clear their... + read more

Last week federal authorities announced the latest power granted to states under the health reform law: Regulators can scrutinize proposed health insurance rate hikes of 10 percent or more. The news did little to change the landscape in California or to diffuse differences over a proposed bill... + read more

A controversial bill that would allow state regulators to prohibit “excessive” health insurance rate increases was passed by a key legislative committee yesterday. The bill would allow health insurance regulators to approve, deny or modify proposed hikes in health insurance... + read more

Research from UC San Francisco suggests that Medi-Cal, California's version of Medicaid, could save money and decrease abortion rates by allowing women to stockpile the pill. The study, which was first published online in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, found that low-income women... + read more