Both regulators responsible for reviewing insurance mergers in California have now approved Centene Corp.’s $6.8 billion acquisition of Health Net, allowing the controversial deal to move forward. The California Department of Managed Health Care approved the deal Tuesday morning, followed a few hours later by the state Department of Insurance. The DMHC imposed conditions with a total price tag of at least $340 million. Read more.
Disability Thrive Initiative
New California Tax Credit For Low-Wage Workers
March 21, 2016 by
It’s just a month until the income tax deadline of April 18 and among the new forms and provisions is a new state earned income tax credit for low-income Californians.
The California Earned Income Tax Credit, or Cal EITC, supplements the federal version of that same tax credit. Read more.
State Rebuffed, Won’t Move Fragile Kids to Managed Care — For Now
March 21, 2016 by
Lauren Brady, a Whittier resident, has lived all her life with Rett syndrome, a rare neurological illness that can cause seizures and limits muscle movement. She can’t speak, needs a feeding tube and uses a wheelchair to get around.
“It affects her from head to toe, but we don’t let all of that get in our way,” her mother, Sherri Brady said this week. “Lauren has lots of friends; she goes horseback riding. Next weekend she’s going on a ski trip.”
That Lauren, 19, can even contemplate those activities is testimony to a $2.9 billion a year program run by California Children’s Services, her mother said. The program provides specialized care to some 180,000 children and young adults who suffer from a range of complicated, debilitating illnesses including Rett syndrome, sickle cell anemia, cancer, cerebral palsy, hemophilia and more. Read more.
Medi-Cal Expansion for Undocumented Kids Begins in May
March 21, 2016 by
California political leaders, enabled by the Affordable Care Act, have expanded full-scope Medi-Cal to cover all poor children under 19, regardless of immigration status.
The expansion will “become active” on May 15, Richard Figueroa, program director with The California Endowment, said at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Read more.
Parental Privacy Panic Pays Off as Judge Changes Mind
March 13, 2016 by
A lawsuit over how the disabled are treated in California schools triggered a parental panic attack after a federal judge ordered that a database with records on every public school student in the Golden State since 2008 be given to a disabled rights group. But this panic attack triggered a public backlash= Read more.
Sonoma County Supervisors make Housing Key Priority
March 13, 2016 by
Sonoma County supervisors are eyeing rent control, just-cause eviction policies and land-use reforms to increase affordable housing as key components of a broad and ambitious new plan to address the county’s housing crisis. Read more.
Congressman Initiates ADA Reform
March 13, 2016 by
The legislative battle against some predatory lawsuits – a nearly impossible task at the state level – is jumping from California to Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney said this week.
“A fairly small number of individuals and firms are causing this havoc in our businesses,” McNerney, D-Calif., said while announcing federal legislation aimed at significant reform. Read more.
