Medical / Health
Monday, March 20, 2023
CalPERS to Pay $800 Million Settlement Over Claims It Misled Retirees on Costs of Long-term Care Insurance
Posted By Adam Ashton/CalMatters on Mon, Mar 20, 2023 at 2:59 PM
The nation’s largest public pension fund in the 1990s and early 2000s sold long-term care insurance with so-called inflation-protection that members believed would shield them from dramatic spikes in premiums. CalPERS nonetheless hiked long-term care insurance rates by 85 percent in 2012 and continued to raise fees in subsequent years, straining household budgets for retirees on fixed incomes.
The settlement, approved by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge earlier this month, would resolve a lawsuit that centers on that steep 2012 fee increase. The settlement cannot take effect until plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit vote on it in a process that’s expected to take place between April and early June, according to court records.
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System pays for long-term care out of a specific fund that is separate from the $443 billion portfolio that supports pensions for its 2 million members. The long-term care fund had about $4.9 billion as of June and about 105,000 active policies, according to CalPERS.
The agreement is the second court-approved settlement in the case. It is significantly less expensive for CalPERS than the first one.
The previous agreement would have cost CalPERS as much as $2.7 billion and required retirees to drop their long-term care plans in exchange for payments of as much as $50,000 apiece.
“This plan is going to run on a basis that is economically solvent without regard to what was said 20-plus years ago when it was first offered.”
los angeles Superior Court Judge William Highberger
Thousands of retirees chose security over cash and rejected that agreement because they wanted to retain to long-term care insurance, according to attorneys representing the plaintiffs.
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
No California Salmon: Fishery to be Shut Down This Year
Posted By Alastair Bland/CalMatters on Wed, Mar 15, 2023 at 9:31 AM
“Drop ‘em down!” Davis calls out the window. “Thirty to 40 feet!”
When the bite is steady, the Salty Lady may have 20 customers on board, each spending $200 for the chance to catch salmon. On the best days, fishing rods bend double the moment the lines go down, and a frenzy of action ensues, often amid a hundred or more other boats. Hooked Chinook thrash at the surface, and the deck becomes strewn with flopping fish.
Last year, California’s commercial and recreational fishing fleet, from the Central Coast to the Oregon border, landed about 300,000 salmon.
But this year, Davis and other salmon anglers won’t be fishing for salmon at all.
In response to crashing Chinook populations, a council of West Coast fishery managers plans to cancel this year’s salmon season in California, which will put hundreds of commercial fishermen and women out of work in Northern California and turn the summer into a bummer for thousands of recreational anglers.
Last year, the industry’s economic value was an estimated $460 million for fish sales and related businesses, including restaurants, tackle shops, private fishing guides, campgrounds and other services. Salmon season usually runs from May through October.
The closure, Davis said, “is going to be devastating to my business.” He said he will “try to scrape together a season” by targeting other species, like rockfish, lingcod, halibut and striped bass, but generating interest in catching these fish will be a challenge.
“Our customers want salmon,” he said, adding that last year, his customers caught roughly 2,000 Chinook.
Davis, 53, who has fished all his life, said the thrill of salmon fishing never grows old. “There’s nothing else like a wide-open salmon bite,” he said.
Only in two previous years — 2008 and 2009 — has California’s salmon season been shut down completely. That closure came as the numbers of spawning fish returning to the Sacramento River, the state’s main salmon producer, crashed to record lows.
Now California’s Chinook runs have collapsed again.
Saturday, March 11, 2023
Time to Spring Forward on Sunday
Posted By Kimberly Wear on Sat, Mar 11, 2023 at 6:51 AM
And, once again, Congress is taking up whether to end what many see as an antiquated practice of changing back and forth each fall and spring that results in public health and safety risks, including an uptick in heart attacks and car accidents whenever the switch-overs occur, disrupting the nation's sleep patterns.
On March 2, Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio reintroduced legislation dubbed the Sunshine Protection Act, which is similar to a bill that unanimously passed in the Senate last year but did not go to a House vote, that would make daylight saving time permanent.
Under the federal Uniform Time Act, states only have two options: spring forward at the appointed time each year or just stay on standard time, which Arizona and Hawaii have opted to do. But it will take an act of Congress for states to keep that extra hour of daylight.
So, even though California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 7 to switch permanently over to daylight saving time back in 2018, the ballot measure still needs to be ratified by a two-thirds vote in the state Senate, which hasn’t happened yet.
When and if it does, California would join a dozen other states still waiting for the required Congressional approval to make the move.
In the meantime, don't forget to set your clocks ahead an hour before going to sleep Saturday night and remember to check the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
After a Pandemic Pause, State to Restart Checking Medi-Cal Eligibility
Posted By Ana B. Ibarra/Calmatters on Tue, Mar 7, 2023 at 2:26 PM
This means that starting in mid-April, residents enrolled in Medi-Cal, the state’s insurance program for low-income people, will start to receive renewal notices in the mail. The process will be spread over 14 months. Some people may be automatically re-enrolled, but most people will have to fill out a renewal packet with information about their income and household size. People who no longer qualify or who fail to fill out the paperwork will lose their free or low-cost coverage.
State officials estimate that between 2 million and 3 million people could lose their Medi-Cal coverage. Ideally, people who no longer qualify for Medi-Cal will transition to a plan in the state’s insurance marketplace, Covered California, or to a job-sponsored health plan. Still, health advocates worry that many people could fall through the cracks or get caught in administrative hurdles and become uninsured, leaving them more likely to delay or forgo care altogether.
Currently, 15.4 million people — more than a third of the state’s population — are enrolled in Medi-Cal, the most ever, according to the California Department of Health Care Services. That’s partly a result of the increased need during the pandemic: As people lost jobs and wages, many also lost their medical insurance. From March 2020 to February 2023, Medi-Cal enrollment increased 16 percent, according to the department.
And as thousands of people became newly eligible for Medi-Cal, far fewer were coming off. Federal rules prohibited states from dropping people from government-sponsored insurance during the pandemic as a way to protect access to care. Now those federal rules are lapsing.
Friday, March 3, 2023
Eureka to Host Mental Health Town Hall
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Fri, Mar 3, 2023 at 11:52 AM
Topics for the series will revolve around mental health, substance abuse and homelessness in the local community, starting with Saturday’s “Mental Health 101.” Each event will feature a panel of professionals from varying backgrounds who will give presentations, followed by an opportunity for the public to ask questions. Panelists will include Lea Nagy of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Humboldt County Public Defender Luke Brownfield, Eureka Police Department Commander Leonard LaFrance and Department of Health and Human Services Program Manager Mark Lamers.
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Humboldt Marks 170th COVID Death
Posted By Kimberly Wear on Wed, Mar 1, 2023 at 4:10 PM
One new hospitalization was also reported and, according to a state database, two people are currently hospitalized with the virus locally. The death reported today is Humboldt County's 170th since the pandemic began.
Find the full public health press release, which includes a schedule of upcoming vaccination clinics, including for booster shots that now combative Omicron sub variants BA.4 and BA.5, and information on flu testing, by clicking here.
Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Wood Introduces Bill to Prioritize Patient Care Over Nursing Home Profits
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Tue, Feb 28, 2023 at 2:24 PM
Wood announced Feb. 27 that he had introduced Assembly Bill 1537, which would require that skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) spend a minimum of 85 percent of all non-Medicare revenue on the direct care of their residents. The bill is almost identical to one Wood introduced last year that passed the Legislature only to be vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In a press release, Wood noted that California’s estimated 1,200 skilled nursing facilities receive revenues approaching $11 billion annually and care for nearly 100,000 patients, saying “we have a responsibility to ensure that they are receiving the best care and given the dignity they deserve.”
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Is California Breaking Its Promise to Cut Health Care Costs?
Posted By Kristen Hwang/CalMatters on Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 9:45 AM
Iv recently got a raise and was able to purchase health insurance through his company, but for a long time he had a Covered California Silver Plan, a mid-tier plan under the state’s version of the federal Affordable Care Act marketplace. A visit to a primary care doctor cost nearly $50, and every time Iv picked up a prescription it was an additional $10 to $15. It was a lot for someone living paycheck-to-paycheck with little wiggle room in the budget.
“Right now, after COVID-19, everything is expensive,” Iv said. “Sometimes when you get sick you avoid that (expense). You have to keep the money to pay the rent, pay the bills, pay the car.”
Mid-tier health coverage like Iv’s Silver Plan is widely considered the best value for people who have insurance through Covered California. But in the past nine years, deductibles for the Silver Plan have grown nearly 88 percent after adjusting for inflation, increasing out-of-pocket costs for enrollees. In raw numbers, last year deductibles grew from $3,700 for an individual and $7,400 for a family with a Silver Plan to $4,750 and $9,500, respectively.
That’s why health care advocates are miffed that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal would sweep away $333.4 million set aside a couple of years ago for the state to defray health care costs for middle-income residents, transferring the money to the general fund. The proposal to move money out of the Health Care Affordability Reserve Fund is temporary, with plans to restore it in 2025 when current federal subsidies expire. But advocates say inflationary pressures and rising health care costs are reasons to use that money right now to help Californians struggling to pay the bills.
“We recognize there’s not a lot of room for new spending in the current budget situation, but we don’t see this as new spending. We see this as the existing commitment,” said Diana Douglas, policy director for Health Access California, which sponsored legislation to create the reserve fund.
The budget transfer idea is part of Newsom’s strategy to address a projected $22.5 billion deficit this year, a deficit that the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office predicts may be even worse come May when the budget will be revised based on actual state revenue.
Newsom’s spokespeople ignored multiple requests for comment.
Friday, February 3, 2023
California Lawmakers Try Again to Cap Insulin Costs
Posted By Ana B. Ibarra/Calmatters on Fri, Feb 3, 2023 at 10:15 AM
Senate Bill 90, by Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, would limit what diabetics pay out of pocket for their insulin — prohibiting state-regulated health insurance plans from imposing a deductible on those prescriptions and capping the copay at $35 for a 30-day supply. The current copay limit is $250.
The bill, advocates say, is meant to provide some immediate relief to consumers as the state works on a more ambitious plan to develop its own low-cost insulin. That’s expected to take at least two to three years.
California legislators have tried passing cost-sharing caps in the past without success. Last session’s bill, carried by former Republican Sen. Patricia Bates of Laguna Niguel, died in an Assembly committee. Despite bipartisan support, the insurance industry pushed back, arguing that capping costs only on the consumer’s end does little to tackle the underlying issue: the list price of insulin.
“I would never suggest that the only problem is copays; overall cost is also a problem,” Wiener said. “We absolutely need to limit what consumers are paying out of pocket at the same time that we do this other structural work around the cost of insulin.”
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Public Health Reports Two New COVID Deaths
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Wed, Feb 1, 2023 at 5:09 PM
One new hospitalization was also reported and, according to a state database, six people are currently hospitalized with the virus locally, including one receiving intensive care. The deaths reported today is Humboldt County's 169th since the pandemic began.
Find the full public health press release, which includes a schedule of upcoming vaccination clinics, including for booster shots that now combative Omicron sub variants BA.4 and BA.5, and information on flu testing, by clicking here.
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