BUSINESS
October 7, 2011 | By Richard Verrier, Los Angeles Times
After the collapse of a deal with hospital chain Providence Health & Services, officials from the Motion Picture & Television Fund are close to finalizing an agreement with another national healthcare provider that would keep Hollywood's most famous nursing home afloat. In February, the fund announced that it had reached an agreement with Providence to manage the hospital and nursing home in Woodland Hills. But the arrangement fell apart this summer after Providence, a Renton, Wash.-based nonprofit health services provider, balked at assuming financial responsibility for the operations.
NATIONAL
September 28, 2011 | By David G. Savage, Washington Bureau
The constitutional clash over President Obama's national healthcare law moved closer to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, when both the administration and Republican state attorneys separately asked the justices to hand down a verdict early next year. Both sides in the legal battle cut short their time for filing their appeal petitions in the high court, and both said they were anxious for a final ruling. "This healthcare law is an affront on Americans' individual liberty," said Florida Atty.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
August 15, 2011 | By Carla Rivera, Los Angeles Times
Eunha Yi is 71 and has back problems. But with threatened cuts to state and federal healthcare programs, how will low-income seniors like herself cope? she asked. It was a question that drew applause Sunday at a town hall meeting at USC that drew a packed audience of all ages eager for answers about health coverage. "Low-income seniors don't have many assets, and affordability is a big issue for us," said Yi, a Mid-Wilshire resident who came to the meeting with a group from the Korean Resource Center, a nonprofit social service agency.
BUSINESS
February 15, 2011 | By Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times
Nearly 5 million uninsured Californians could gain access to health coverage in 2014 when the nation's healthcare law expands eligibility for subsidized insurance programs for the poor, according to a new report. At that time, more than two-thirds of the state's 7 million uninsured residents will be eligible for California's Medi-Cal insurance program, which serves the state's poorest people, or for federal subsidies aimed at those who earn more but have no coverage through their jobs.
BUSINESS
January 4, 2011 | By Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times
California's new insurance commissioner sought Monday to force health insurers to spend more of their revenue on medical care. In his first official act, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones ordered emergency regulations requiring insurance companies to devote at least 80% of their income to policyholders' claims in the state's individual insurance market. Jones' plan matches provisions in the new national healthcare law. Jones said the emergency regulations would enable him to enforce the 80% spending requirement in the federal law at a time when congressional Republicans are trying to kill funding for the measure.
BUSINESS
December 27, 2010 | By Noam N. Levey, Los Angeles Times
Major insurers around the country are reporting that a growing number of small businesses are signing up to give their workers health benefits, a sign of potential progress for the nation's battered healthcare system. The increase, although not universal, has brought new security to thousands of workers, many of whom did not have insurance or were at risk of losing it. An important selling point has been a tax credit that the nation's new healthcare law provides to companies with fewer than 25 employees and moderate-to-low pay scales to help offset the cost of providing benefits.