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Medical Care Insights and Information

Trends in medical insurance. Keep up to date on the latest changes in medical care. BenefitsCafe provides news and updates on medical care.

2026 Sep 11

What the Changing Los Angeles Health Care Market Means for Employers

By |September 11th, 2026 |Categories: Changes in Medical Care, Small Business Articles|Tags: , , |

The California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) recently released its 2026 Regional Market Report on Los Angeles County. The report provides a detailed look at how the Los Angeles health care system has changed since CHCF’s previous study in 2020–21. While much of the report focuses on Medi-Cal and the [...]

2026 Sep 03

Health Net Is Leaving California’s Group Health Insurance Market

By |September 3rd, 2026 |Categories: Changes in Medical Care, Health Insurance California|Tags: , , |

Health Net has announced that it is ending its California commercial group health insurance business. This includes both small business and large group medical plans. If your company's Health Net medical plan is scheduled to terminate on February 28, 2027, now is the time to begin planning for replacement [...]

2025 Oct 30

Sutter Health Gives California Many Small Group Employers a Huge Rate Increase in the 4th Quarter of 2025

By |October 30th, 2025 |Categories: Changes in Medical Care, Group Medical Insurance Providers|Tags: |

Some small California employers (1-100 employees) that offer medical insurance coverage through Sutter Health Plan have received 4th Quarter 2025 rate increases of 50%.   I have been a health insurance agent/broker since 1993, and I have never seen a rate increase like the one that Sutter has delivered. Sutter [...]

2023 Jun 01

Consumer Advocacy for Small Business Medical Insurance with the California Senate and Assembly

By |June 1st, 2023 |Categories: Changes in Medical Care|Tags: , , , , , |

On May 10, 2023, I flew to Sacramento, California and joined other insurance professionals for a day at the Capitol, which included meeting with elected officials and discussing issues of importance to small and mid-sized employers that offer group medical, dental, vision and other types of insurance coverage to [...]

2020 Dec 07

Walmart Health: a New Approach to Health Care

By |December 7th, 2020 |Categories: Changes in Medical Care, Health Care Costs, Health Insurance Reform, Large Group Medical Insurance Articles, Small Group Health Insurance|

Walmart has taken a big step towards fixing the “broken” U.S. health Care system by creating Walmart Health.  These are clinics that offer primary medical care, mental health counseling, X-rays, labs, dental services, and vision and hearing services at one location.   As of December 2020 Walmart has 14 health clinics.  [...]

2020 Nov 19

Amazon Opens Neighborhood Health Center

By |November 19th, 2020 |Categories: ACA, Changes in Medical Care, Health Care Costs, Health Insurance Reform, Small Group Health Insurance, Trends|

Employee Medical Clinic As a sign of change in medical care delivery, Amazon has opened its first health care clinic for its employees in Dallas, Texas.  According to the Amazon announcement, “Amazon expects to establish 20 health centers in five cities across the U.S., improving access and care [...]

2016 Oct 05

California Small Business Medical Insurance 2016 4th Qtr. Renewals

By |October 5th, 2016 |Categories: Small Group Health Insurance, Changes in Medical Care, Health Insurance Reform, Small Business Articles|

Experts estimate that 50 to 70 percent of the small businesses in California that offer employee medical insurance will renew their plans in December 2016.  Many California small business medical insurance companies have begun to release their renewal rates for December 2016 and for many employers the renewal rates look [...]

2014 Oct 08

Vivity: the new hope for health care

By |October 8th, 2014 |Categories: ACA, Changes in Medical Care, Large Group Medical Insurance Articles, Small Business Articles|

Right before my eyes I saw the top executives from the top hospitals with the top executive from the top insurance company pledge to offer high quality medical care at lower cost. They described how they have aligned incentives for everyone to provide top patient care. If they can do that cost-effectively, they will share in the savings. If not, they will collectively share in the loss...This is a game-changer for health insurance.

2011 May 02

California Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) vs. California Major Risk Medical Insurance Plan (MRMIP)

By |May 2nd, 2011 |Categories: ACA, Changes in Medical Care|

The California Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) was set up under the new Federal health insurance reform law (PPACA). It’s supposed to go until 1/1/2014 at which time there will be no medical underwriting and all insurance companies must take everyone without regard to pre-existing medical conditions – i.e., you can transition to a standard plan. For someone close to age 65, enrolling on this plan would take him/her until he/she is eligible for Medicare which is currently "Guarantee Issue." Read about eligibility and cost of the PCIP based on our analysis of this government program.

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