Posts Tagged: Act

Millions of Californians receive quality health care thanks to the Affordable Care Act and Medi-Cal. And though most would probably thank President Obama or the Governor for that, Peter Harbage, who passed away Tuesday at age 43, after a courageous fight with cancer, had a lot to do with it too. “Peter is the unsung architect of health care reform in the United States,” says Anthony Wright, Executive Director of Health Access, a health care consumer advocacy group.

No way in: Millions of people excluded from ACA

Photo of Dominga Sarabia by Lily Dayton, design by Cathy Krizik (HealthyCal.org)

by LILY DAYTON posted 01.21.2015

California Health Report: An estimated 
2.6 million undocumented California residents are explicitly barred by law from the benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The legislation has been a huge boon for many Californians: More than 3 million previously uninsured Californians gained health insurance since the start of the ACA’s first enrollment period. Almost 30 percent of the remaining uninsured, however, are undocumented immigrants who are ineligible for both Medi-Cal and assistance through Covered California.

Three seats on the powerful board that governs California’s multibillion-dollar health insurance exchange are up for grabs, giving the Brown administration – whose allies already comprise a majority on the five-member board — an opportunity to name two new directors. Two seats held by appointees of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger expired last week. A third became vacant following the resignation last month of Robert Ross, the president of the nonprofit California Endowment.

One-year extension for tax-free Internet service law

An illustration of the Internet and world wide web. (Ramcreations, Shutterstock)

by SCOTT SORIANO posted 12.10.2014

Californians concerned about an internet service tax can breathe easier — at least for a year. The federal law known as the Internet Tax Freedom Act, or IFTA, was extended Wednesday. It has been extended several times since it was passed in 1998.

Historic moment for Black, Asian caucuses

Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, second from right, former chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, speaks at a 2013 Capitol ceremony. Others include Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, the new caucus chair, left; Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, right. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

by SAMANTHA GALLEGOS posted 12.08.2014

California’s Legislature has reached a historic moment for diversity. Latinos are still wining seats in the Assembly and Senate as demographics shift favorably in their direction, but this election year brought a surge in California’s other ethnic caucuses. The number of members in the Black Legislative Caucus has reached a historic high, as has the Asian and Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus. The Latino Legislative Caucus fell by two members.

By next week, consumers could see their internet service subject to taxation. Currently, internet service providers do not charge state or local sales tax, thanks to a piece of federal legislation called the Internet Tax Freedom Act. But that law, authored 16 years ago by former California Congressman Chris Cox and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, will expire on Dec. 11 unless Congress acts to extend it or make it permanent.

Prop. 45: Dems split over regulating health care rates

Two aspects of health care: A claim form and money,. (Photo: Zimmytws via Shutterstock)

by SAMANTHA GALLEGOS posted 10.13.2014

A high-stakes ballot measure going before voters Nov. 4 has divided California Democrats, with the state party and some of its most prominent politicians on opposite sides. The initiative, Proposition 45, would empower the state’s elected insurance commissioner to approve health insurance rates.

State government’s anti-secrecy law under scrutiny

Clean-energy advocates demonstrate on the steps of the state Public Utilities Commission, which is covered by the anti-secrecy law known as the Bagley-Keene Act.

by DOROTHY MILLS-GREGG posted 10.01.2014

A California law intended to block secret decisions in the state bureaucracy actually prevents officials from talking to each other on crucial matters, according to their testimony before a state investigative panel. The issue, which intensified in the wake of recent activities at the California Public Utilities Commission, arises from changes in the 1967 Bagley-Keene Act, which is intended to assure the public’s access to the actions of state boards and commissions.

OPINION: Today is National Voter Registration Day and it falls between two historic legislative anniversaries this year and next year that remind us how so many people struggled for the voting rights that too many fail to use now. You can either cast a ballot, or cast a shadow over our democracy by not voting at all this November.

Closing a Sanctuary Act loophole

An oil-drilling platform off California's southern coast. (Photo: Theo Fitzhugh)

by TED DANSON posted 08.21.2014

OPINION: The California legislature passed the Coastal Sanctuary Act, which banned offshore drilling in state waters in most of the state. But the way the Act was drafted, it created a loophole that makes it possible to start new offshore drilling in one place only in California: Tranquillion Ridge in Santa Barbara County.