A week after negotiations to rescue California’s floundering home insurance market stalled out in the Legislature, the state’s top insurance regulator put out his own rescue plan that effectively amounts to a trade for the state’s major insurers. Under proposed regulations Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced Thursday, major insurers will be required to cover a […]
Insurance
Posted inNews
Four Things California Can Do as Home Insurers Retreat
After State Farm declared in late May that it wouldn’t sell any new home insurance policies in California, people shopping around for new insurance had one fewer option. When days later it was revealed that Allstate had quietly made the same decision last year, Californians are now left wondering: How bad is this? And how […]
Posted inNews
After a Pandemic Pause, State to Restart Checking Medi-Cal Eligibility
California will soon restart its annual eligibility review for people enrolled in Medi-Cal, a process that has been suspended since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 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 […]
Posted inNews
Most Californians say Economic Inequality is Getting Worse, New Survey Shows
Seven in 10 Californians say the gap between rich and poor is getting larger, according to a statewide survey released Tuesday. The survey, conducted last month by the nonpartisan think tank, Public Policy Institute of California, polled 2,292 adult Californians about their opinions on the state’s economic outlook, financial security, job security, among other topics. […]
Posted inNews
Ford Sentenced in Cannabis Insurance Embezzlement Case
Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Christopher Wilson sentenced John Ford to serve 90 days in jail and five years probation after the former insurance broker pleaded guilty to felony embezzlement. An investigation by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office and the California Office of Insurance alleged that Ford contracted with various clients […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
A Reasonable Ask
I place another log in the wood stove, sit down at my dining table, mug of hot coffee at my fingertips. The fire puts out a steady warmth. Windows fill three of the four walls of this great room and I wonder if the light leaking out from my lamp bothers the neighbors. I always […]
Posted inNews
UPDATE: Covered California Has Extended Deadline to Friday, Officials Say New Subsidies and Eligibility Requirements Are Available
UPDATE: The state has extended the deadline to sign up and receive Covered California coverage beginning Jan. 1 until Friday due to a surge in enrollment. According to a press release, “Covered California saw tens of thousands of people sign up for coverage” beginning late last week. “Open enrollment is full-steam ahead, and this year’s […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The (Single-Payer) Elephant in the Room
There’s the ancient Buddhist story about blind men describing an elephant. One grasps the tail: “An elephant is like a rope.” One has an ear: “An elephant is flat and floppy.” Another, a leg: “An elephant is like a tree trunk.” These isolated conclusions do not describe an elephant. This has relevance to what people […]
Posted inNews
What California’s ‘Nonbinary’ Gender Designation Will Cost Teen Drivers
In a little-noticed side impact of California’s 2018 law granting drivers the option of listing their gender as nonbinary, California’s Department of Insurance has decreed that auto insurance companies can no longer grant breaks in insurance rates to teen drivers who are female or charge young men more. Outgoing Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, in one […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
A Real Answer to the Single-Payer Debate
We pay taxes and local fees for water, sewage, garbage and protection, for essential services and infrastructure — an expected, rational cost for the common good. But there is one area of overlooked expense, one fraught with irrationality and inequity; namely, the literally millions of our local dollars going to buy health plans, including some […]
Posted inNews
The Faces of Obamacare
In many ways, Jude Ehrlich is the face of Obamacare on the North Coast. The good face, anyway. The 44-year-old McKinleyville man never used to have much trouble getting health insurance. He had employee-offered plans until 2000, when he started his own small business and purchased his own policy, which helped cover his treatments for […]
Posted inNews
Rate Hikes Hidden in California’s Glowing Obamacare Reviews
During a meeting last week, officials at Covered California, the state’s much-touted health insurance marketplace, made a pretty stark admission: Half of the approximately 1 million consumers whose health plans are being canceled will pay more under the Affordable Care Act. The numbers, it seems, have been overshadowed by other, more positive headlines. First, the […]