KCAL Insurance Agency
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27 Jul 2010
Extend jobless benefits
President Obama signed a $33.9-billion package of legislation on July 22 extending unemployment benefits for 2.5 million jobless Americans. The California Employment Development Department...
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16 Jul 2010
Reviews of health insurance rate hikes
Actuary David Axene, a state consultant who found errors in Woodland Hills Anthem Blue Cross' rate filings, is expected to deliver his findings by mid-August to the California Insurance...
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15 Jul 2010
Health Tests at No Cost
The White House on July 14 issued new rules requiring health insurance companies to provide free coverage for dozens of screenings, laboratory tests and other types of preventive care. The rules...
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15 Jul 2010
Federal Flood Insurance Up for Vote Again
Insurers are urging the House of Representatives to pass legislation today that would extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for five years. The measure, HR 5114, the "Flood Insurance...
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14 Jul 2010
California budget impasse
Health clinics that serve hundreds of thousands of California residents face the prospect of not being paid as the state lurches toward a third week of a budget stalemate - despite assertions by...
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13 Jul 2010
Unemployment benefits
In the coming weeks, the Senate is expected to resume its debate about whether to extend the emergency jobless benefits that were passed in response to the steep increase in unemployment caused by...
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13 Jul 2010
HealthCare.gov
People who don't have employer-provided insurance coverage have options, ranging from individual insurance policies to government-funded programs. But information about these plans and programs is...
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09 Jul 2010
Increasing Privacy Liability
Billing companies, customer service contractors and other businesses regularly handle private health records, but currently, they are not liable for information breaches. U.S. companies that...
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08 Jul 2010
Blue Shield accused of overcharging for safety-net
Amalia Lample, 64, of Los Angeles seeks class-action status in her July 7 suit of Blue Shield of California, accusing the health plan of knowingly exceeding maximum insurance rates set by the...
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08 Jul 2010
Health insurance rate review
Gov. Schwarzenegger moved on July 7 to implement a major element of the new national healthcare overhaul, seeking a $1-million federal grant to strengthen the state's review of health insurance...
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05 Jul 2010
Small Business Advice
A common trick targeting small businesses that scammers hope are too busy or disorganized to keep track of is business documents renewals. Phishing schemes, which involve official-looking...
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02 Jul 2010
Premium for high risk pool
President Obama's new health coverage for uninsured people with health problems won't be cheap -- monthly premiums as high as $900. There are going to be meaningful premiums that are going to be...
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02 Jul 2010
Eliminating Workers' Comp Insurance Monopoly
A campaign to end the state of Washington 's monopoly on workers' compensation insurance appears to have enough support to qualify for the November ballots. Initiative 1082 supporters submitted...
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01 Jul 2010
High Risk Pool Medical Insurance Program
The Obama administration and some state governments will begin accepting applications July 1 for new insurance programs designed to cover people who have been denied insurance because they have...
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30 Jun 2010
Treating Workers and Customers
You should treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers. In order to be effective we need to be of good character. And good character entails a high standard of...
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28 Jun 2010
California Launches Disaster Corps
In the aftermath of the 2007 Southern California Wildfires and Cosco Busan Oil Spill, thousands of disaster volunteers poured into affected areas to assist with evacuations, sheltering, cleanup and...
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24 Jun 2010
More young adults on parents' health insurance pol
More than 30% of young adults nationwide are without insurance. They earn less, on average, than those who are older, and have higher rates of unemployment. They account for about one-fifth of...
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24 Jun 2010
Health insurers boost customer service
Folks are confused now about health insurance, and it's going to get more confusing with reform before the tide turns. As a result of the new healthcare-reform law, more insurance carriers are...
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24 Jun 2010
House passes flood insurance extension
The House of Representatives passed HR 5569, another temporary extension of the National Flood Insurance Program, until Sept. 30, 2010. The program has been suspended from issuing new policies...
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23 Jun 2010
Hiring cheap is a mistake
You still get what you pay for. That's the message compensation experts have for small-business owners looking to pluck top talent at bargain rates from today's crowded job market. They warn that...
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23 Jun 2010
Electronic health records
Electronic health record systems likely will soon become a fixture in medical settings. Advocates claim they will reduce health care costs and improve medical outcomes, which could be critical...
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23 Jun 2010
Changing health insurance
Many small-business owners are caught in a bind created by the federal health-care overhaul that has made choosing health-insurance plans for their workers a trickier calculation. Companies whose...
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22 Jun 2010
Premium hikes for health insurance
About 14 million Americans under age 65 receive health insurance through the non-group or individual market. In contrast, about 157 million U.S. residents get their coverage through an employer....
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22 Jun 2010
Obama gives insurers a warning
President Obama plans to sternly warn industry executives at a White House meeting on Tuesday against imposing hefty rate increases in anticipation of tightening regulation under the new law....
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22 Jun 2010
Healthcare dilemma
The nation's existing health system is continuing to fray, raising the prospect that the country could experience a crisis before the law establishes a new safety net in 2014. Three months after...
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21 Jun 2010
Medicaid eligibility
The Medicaid look-back rules are designed to prevent trying to hide assets from the government by transferring them away from the potential Medicaid recipient. Medicaid recipients are supposed to...
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21 Jun 2010
Doctors limit new Medicare patients
The number of doctors refusing new Medicare patients because of low government payment rates is setting a new high, just six months before millions of Baby Boomers begin enrolling in the...
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21 Jun 2010
San Gabriel Valley Association installs officers
San Gabriel Valley, Calif., chapter of the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters Society has installed its 2010-2011 officers and directors. The officers are: President Heather Reynolds of...
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17 Jun 2010
Supreme Court rules in favor of California police
The Supreme Court rejected a broad right of privacy for workers Thursday and said supervisors may read through an employee's text messages if they suspected that work rules were being violated. In...
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16 Jun 2010
Flood insurance program remains in Limbo
The Senate today voted against legislation that included a provision to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Along with short term extensions for numerous other federal...
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24 May 2010
National restaurant assn and UnitedHealth coverage
The restaurant industry, which employs nearly 13 million people nationally, has among the lowest levels of health coverage, a reflection of the transitory nature of the workforce and the...
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21 May 2010
Hospitals fined nine California hospitals
California Department of Public Health officials fined nine California hospitals for medical errors last year that in some cases killed or seriously injured patients and required the hospitals to...
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19 May 2010
Video Monitors in Vehicles
The California Assembly passed AB1942 by a vote of 49-0 that would allow video recorders to be installed on vehicle dashboards. State law currently prohibits dashboard devices that may obstruct a...
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14 May 2010
Employers who do not offer insurance
If your employer doesn't offer insurance coverage, you will be able buy insurance on the health insurance exchanges that will start up in 2014. You would also be eligible for premium subsidies if...
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14 May 2010
Insurance agree to sanctions against Iran
The California Insurance Commissioner announced that 1,010 insurance companies -- more than 75 percent of insurers licensed to do business in California -- have agreed to forgo future investments...
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13 May 2010
Revised budget plans
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to present a revised budget plan Friday that would dismantle some of California's landmark healthcare programs after efforts to scale them back have been...
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12 May 2010
California regulators to inspect Olive View hospit
State regulators said that they plan to inspect Olive View- UCLA Medical Center as soon as possible, following admissions by hospital and county officials that they did not know the neonatal...
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12 May 2010
Worker's Comp Claimants
Injured workers are getting the care they need, according to a recent study on access to medical care in the California workers' compensation system. The study, conducted by the University of...
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11 May 2010
Risky Elderly Drivers
In California, more than 2.5 million seniors carry driver's licenses -- and that number is expected to balloon in the coming years. Stubbornness, aggressive behavior and forgetfulness could be...
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10 May 2010
Mental Health Parity Brouhaha
A huge fight has erupted over rules issued by the Obama administration to enforce a 2008 law that requires equal insurance coverage for the treatment of mental and physical illnesses. The goal of...
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10 May 2010
California Insurance Guarantee Association Bonds
The California Senate has passed SB 1242 by 34-0 to extend from Jan. 1, 2011, to Jan. 1, 2013, the sunset date on the authority of the California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA) to issue...
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05 May 2010
CalPERS May Pursue Lawsuit Against Rating Agencies
A San Francisco superior court judge ruled in favor California Public Employees' Retirement System, allowing it to proceed with its lawsuit accusing Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's...
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28 Apr 2010
WellPoint and Blue Shield of California to stop dr
WellPoint Inc., the parent of Anthem Blue Cross of California, and Blue Shield of California say they will stop the practice known as rescission, of dropping sick policyholders. Even before...
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27 Apr 2010
Insurance Surcharge to Develop Emergency Fund
The California Senate Banking, Finance and Insurance Committee has passed a bill that would impose a surcharge of 4.8 percent on commercial and residential fire and multiperil insurance policies...
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23 Apr 2010
2007 San Diego fire fines
Under a settlement approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, San Diego Gas & Electric Co. will pay $14.4 million to the State and CoxCom Inc. will pay $2 million because of the role...
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22 Apr 2010
Easter Quake Damage $91 Million
California estimated the 7.2 April 4 earthquake caused about $91 million in damage in impoverished Imperial County. Schwarzenegger's office sent a letter to the federal government with the...
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21 Apr 2010
Healthcare coverage for young adults
United Healthcare, WellPoint Inc. and Humana Inc. said they will not wait until President Obama's new healthcare reforms take effect and that young adults can remain under their parents' policies...
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19 Apr 2010
Earthquake Insurance
Earthquake insurance is a pricey decision facing small companies each year. Quake damage is not covered by standard business insurance policies: Most insurers don't sell it as a stand-alone...
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16 Apr 2010
Medicare Funding to Murrieta Hospital
Days after state officials announced Southwest Healthcare System in Murrieta had received California's first $100,000 fine for putting patients at risk of death or serious injury, federal...
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14 Apr 2010
Hospitals fined over patient care
California public health officials have imposed the first $100,000 fine under a new escalating system of penalties for hospitals that put patients at risk of death or serious injury. Southwest...
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14 Apr 2010
Obama signs extension of jobless benefits
President Obama signed an extension of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed Thursday night. About 212,000 people lost benefits when Congress failed to act before the expiration date, but...
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09 Apr 2010
Regulations to Alleviate Under-Insurance
In order to alleviate concerns about homeowner under-insurance, the California Department of Insurance has scheduled a hearing on May 17 in Los Angeles to discuss proposed regulations governing...
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09 Apr 2010
Flood Insurance
When Congress went into recess at the end of March, it failed to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program. It expired on March 28th. This is not the first time the program has been...