The California Legislature had an active year, passing many new laws affecting health care—with a strong focus on health care coverage, drug prescribing, public health and mental health issues.
The California Medical Association has published a summary of the most significant new health laws of interest to physicians. For more details, see "Significant New California Laws of Interest to Physicians for 2020."
Resources for physicians and health care providers on the latest news, research and developments.
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April 14, 2021
CMA has learned that the contract between Dignity Health California and Anthem Blue Cross is set to terminate for its c...
UnitedHealthcare (UHC) is now requiring physicians to bill eligible telehealth services with place of service (POS) 02 ...
April 13, 2021
While the Information Blocking Rule holds many benefits for patients and physicians, it raises some specific considerat...
To help consumers benefit from these new subsidies, Covered California launched a special open enrollment period starti...
Nearly one-third of physicians reported that prior authorization requirements have led to a serious adverse event for a...
DMHC will be conducting investigations to assess barriers practitioners experience in providing behavioral health servi...
CMA's annotated Model Medical Staff Bylaws are the definitive guide for every medical staff for the professional and le...
CMA's collaboration with Aledade Inc. helps independent physicians succeed in value-based care, ensuring practices and ...
April 08, 2021
The California Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) has recently finalized changes to the Medical-Legal Fee Schedu...
April 07, 2021
To conclude our 12-part telehealth webinar series, CMA is hosting a telehealth townhall and inviting practices to bring...
April 06, 2021
The federal information blocking rule, issued by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), took effec...
The California Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) has issued a number of new waivers related to ordering and administ...
CME providers, physicians and other stakeholders are encouraged to submit public comment on the draft standards from Ap...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced it had begun recouping COVID-19 accelerated and a...
April 05, 2021
Today marks the beginning of CMA’s 47th Annual Legislative Advocacy Conference!
Dr. Bretan issued the following statement in response to recent violence and hate crimes against the Asian American and...
March 30, 2021
The next installment of our COVID-19 Virtual Grand Grounds will feature physicians working clinically to monitor and ca...
The conference’s program is scheduled for Tuesday, April 6 at 10:00 a.m. and features keynote speakers Gavin Newsom, Go...
Current Covered California consumers will pay an estimated $119 less per month per household on average, which translat...
March 29, 2021
The hardship exception application for group practices, virtual groups and alternative payment model entities who misse...
March 25, 2021
Anticipating a new influx of vaccine supply, Gov. Newsom announced he state would soon be loosening eligibility require...
The U.S. Senate voted 90-2 to pass bipartisan legislation to stop the 2% Medicare sequestration cut that would have fur...
March 24, 2021
Medi-Cal has raised its payment rate for COVID-19 vaccine administration fee to $40 per dose, regardless of vaccine man...
Don’t miss keynote speakers Gavin Newsom, Governor of California and Yolanda Richardson, California Secretary of Govern...
CMA has published a frequently asked questions document to help physicians understand this new rule and how to comply. ...
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has been confirmed as the next secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Hu...
Last week, the U.S. House voted 246-175 to stop the 2% Medicare sequestration payment cuts and to extend the moratorium...
March 18, 2021
CMA President Peter N. Bretan, Jr., M.D., issued the following statement in response to the confirmation of Xavier Bece...
March 17, 2021
In response to CMA advocacy, UnitedHealthcare has advised that the Optum Pay basic service will restore free access to ...
On March 9, 2021, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that the federal government under the Biden Admini...
March 16, 2021
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grip the country, America's physicians remain entrenched on the front lines, figh...
The Medical Board of California is reminding physicians that the fee charged to maintain the CURES system is set to inc...
On Friday, March 19, 2021, the results of the National Resident Matching Program will be announced, informing thousands...
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Monday that it would double Medicare payment for administratio...
California has expanded eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine, with nearly half of all residents now eligible as of Mond...
March 11, 2021
United Healthcare recently announced plans to narrow its provider network for laboratory services beginning July 1, 202...
On March 11, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 pandemic relief package. “The American Rescue...
CMA has received numerous complaints from physicians regarding the recent loss of payment remittance advice access thr...
CMA has received several reports from practices very concerned that commercial payors are shifting the financial risk o...
March 10, 2021
DMHC today published a new “all plan letter” detailing how the new federal guidance affects its emergency regulations o...
CMA has joined #ThisIsOurShot, a national grassroots coalition to build vaccine-trust for a COVID-free world by elevati...
March 09, 2021
Two CMA supported bills are being heard in committee this week. CMA is urging all physicians to contact legislators and...
To conclude the 12-part series, CMA is hosting a telehealth townhall and inviting practices to bring any and all questi...
California’s public schools have largely been shuttered for the past year, and pediatricians and others are reporting s...
This Thursday, March 11, 2021, the 50 physician members of CMA;s Council on Legislation, will meet to discuss and recom...
March 08, 2021
CMA recently sent a letter to TRPN demanding that it cease engaging in an illegal check scheme in California.
March 02, 2021
CDPH recently announced that as of March 1, 2021, all providers and local health jurisdictions will move to a uniform, ...
CMA is now sponsoring a bill that would require health plans and insurers to reimburse its contracted health care provi...