Calif. small businesses can keep non-conforming health plans next year

Elsewhere, a lawsuit accuses a big California insurer of deceptive enrollment practices, and consumers see that provider lists are often out-of-date and inaccurate.

The Sacramento Bee: Small Businesses Can Keep Health Plans Next Year
California small businesses will be allowed to keep health insurance plans that don't conform to the federal Affordable Care Act through next year. The urgency measure signed by Gov. Jerry Brown brings the state into line with a federal policy that lets small employers continue to offer non-compliant plans. Senate Bill 1446 was authored by Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, and sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. "The signing of SB 1446 is a victory for all California small businesses, as small employers who need time to transition to Affordable Care Act compliant policies will now have additional time to make the transition," Jones said in a prepared statement on Monday (Cadelago, 7/8).

Kaiser Health News: Lawsuit Accuses Anthem Blue Cross Of 'Fraudulent' Enrollment Practices
California insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross misled "millions of enrollees" about whether their doctors and hospitals were participating in its new plans, and failed to disclose that many policies wouldn't cover care outside its approved network, according to a class action lawsuit filed Tuesday (Appleby, 7/9).

The Sacramento Bee: Californians Report Roadblocks In New Era Of Health Care
John Aiello was thumbing through the directory of physicians provided by his insurance company when he came upon a surgeon with a familiar name. Could this be the specialist who treated his ailing father years ago in San Francisco?... Turns out it was the same surgeon, but he had moved out of state long before. Last year, he died after battling an illness of his own. Inaccurate provider lists are among the challenges facing customers as many transition from the ranks of the uninsured under the federal health care overhaul (Cadelago, 7/8).