California Health News

News & Announcements about health insurance in California




  • Home
    • CHN File Explorer
  • About
  • Contact
  • Health Plans
    • Aetna
    • Anthem Blue Cross
    • Blue Shield
    • Centene
    • CoveredCA Small Group
    • CaliforniaChoice
    • Cigna
    • Health Net
    • Kaiser
    • L.A. Care Covered
    • Molina
    • Oscar
    • Sutter Health Plus
    • United Healthcare
    • Valley Health Plan
    • Western Health Advantage
  • Government
    • Affordable Care Act
    • CMS
    • CA DMHC
    • Cal DOI
    • Covered California
      • CalHEERS
      • Certified Agents
    • HHS
    • Healthcare.gov
    • IRS
    • Medicare
      • PDP
      • CMS
    • Medi-Cal

New Blue Shield Billing and Online Payment System

February 7, 2018 By Kevin Knauss Leave a Comment

The new billing system addresses many issues and complaints that have frustrated both consumers and Blue Shield for several years. The grandfathered members were moved to the new billing system in 2017. Beginning in February, Blue Shield will begin to notify off-exchange members in individual and family plans of the change. On March 10th and 11th Blue Shield will begin to transition the off-exchange members into the new billing system off-exchange.

Filed Under: Blue Shield Tagged With: Billing, Blue Shield

Proposed Work Requirement For Medi-Cal Beneficiaries

January 11, 2018 By Kevin Knauss 1 Comment

CMS, HHS

Meeting work and community engagement requirements should take into consideration areas of high unemployment or caregiving for young children or elderly family members. States will therefore be required to describe strategies to assist eligible individuals in meeting work and community engagement requirements and to link individuals to additional resources for job training, provided they do not use federal Medicaid funding to finance these services.

Filed Under: Medi-Cal, Medicaid Tagged With: Medi-Cal, Medicaid, Work

Labor Department Proposed Rules For Small Group Association Health Insurance

January 5, 2018 By Kevin Knauss 2 Comments

Small Group, Health, Insurance

The proposed rule, which applies only to employer-sponsored health insurance, would allow employers to join together as a single group to purchase insurance in the large group market. These improvements stand to open health insurance coverage for millions of Americans and their families by making it more affordable for thousands of small businesses and sole proprietors. By joining together, employers may reduce administrative costs through economies of scale, strengthen their bargaining position to obtain more favorable deals, enhance their ability to self-insure, and offer a wider array of insurance options.

Filed Under: Small Group Tagged With: Association, Health Plans, Insurance, Small Group

Individual Mandate Penalty Update Covered California

December 22, 2017 By Kevin Knauss Leave a Comment

The penalty also remains in effect for 2018 coverage. The only change is the tax penalty will no longer be in effect beginning in 2019.

Filed Under: Covered California, IRS Tagged With: Covered California, Individua Mandate, Taxes, Trump

IRS Extends Due Date for Employers and Providers to Issue Health Coverage Forms to Individuals in 2018

December 22, 2017 By Kevin Knauss Leave a Comment

Insurers, self-insuring employers, other coverage providers, and applicable large employers now have until March 2, 2018, to provide Forms 1095-B or 1095-C to individuals, which is a 30-day extension from the original due date of Jan. 31.

Filed Under: IRS Tagged With: 1095, Federal, IRS, Taxes

Covered California Extends Open Enroll Until December 22 For 2018

December 14, 2017 By Kevin Knauss Leave a Comment

he plan selection deadline for a January 1, 2018 coverage start date has been extended to Friday, December 22 to accommodate increased interest in enrollment for the new year.

Filed Under: Covered California Tagged With: Covered California, Deadline, Enrollment

Blue Shield Adds Santa Barbara Sansum Clinic, Continuing Care For New Members

December 12, 2017 By Kevin Knauss Leave a Comment

With the exit of Anthem Blue Cross in many regions of California, Blue Shield is working to make the transition for consumers who have enrolled in one of their health plans. They have released a bulletin about continuing care under a former health plan and transferring prescriptions to the new Blue Shield health plan.

Filed Under: Blue Shield Tagged With: Anthem, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Care, Drugs, Prescription, Sansum, Santa Barbara

DMHC Fines Blue Shield of California and Care 1st Health Plan $457,500 for Consumer Grievance Violations

December 9, 2017 By Kevin Knauss Leave a Comment

The California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) has taken enforcement actions including a $322,500 fine against California Physicians’ Service (Blue Shield of California) and a $135,000 fine against Care 1st Health Plan for failing to identify, timely process, and resolve consumer grievances. The plans have also failed to fully and timely provide information to the Department during the investigation of these consumer complaints.

Filed Under: Blue Shield, CA DMHC Tagged With: Blue Shield, Care First, Fines, Grievance

Blue Shield Changes How Out-of-Network Costs Accumulate For PPO Plans

November 28, 2017 By Kevin Knauss Leave a Comment

In addition, your out-of-pocket expenses will be counted separately for covered services received from network providers and non-network providers. Any expenses you pay to see a network doctor will be counted toward your network out-of-pocket maximum, and expenses you pay to see a non-network doctor will be counted toward your non-network out-of-pocket maximum.

Filed Under: Blue Shield Tagged With: Amounts, Blue Shield, Costs, Deductible, maximum out-of-pocket, Out-of-Network

Oscar Health Plans Expands Hospital Network For 2018

November 21, 2017 By Kevin Knauss Leave a Comment

All of the health plans Oscar offers through Covered California will be mirrored off-exchange. The off-exchange mirrored plans are called the Classic series and include the Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Minimum Coverage standard health plan design.

Filed Under: Oscar Tagged With: Los Angeles, Orange, Oscar, San Francisco

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 38
  • Next Page »

Advertisement

Advertisement

Comparing Health Plan Video

Health, Insurance, Plan, Comparison

Using a table of in-network providers, hospitals, drugs, and rates to compare health plans

Kevin Knauss

California, Kevin Knauss, Rainbow, LGBT, Insurance, Author, Medicare

Education Before Enrollment

Phone: 916-521-7216

New Medicare Claim Numbers Coming

Medicare, Social Security

New Medicare Claim Numbers

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 29 other subscribers

Kevin Knauss - www.insuremekevin.com - CDI# 0H12644