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April 25, 2024
California Department of Industrial Relations and Cal/OSHA Will Honor Workers’ Memorial Day at Four Events in California on April 28th-29th 2024. Cal/OSHA Joining Partners in Arcadia, Richmond, San Diego and San Francisco.

April 23, 2024
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April 22, 2024
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April 22, 2024
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Association Health Plans (AHPs), under consideration by Congress, are under attack as the National Associations of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) June 18 joined members of the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislators in opposition to legislation (HR 1774/858). According to NAIC, the legislation would create AHPs and "exempt them from crucial state insurance standards."

Kathleen Sebelius, NAIC president and Kansas insurance commissioner, said state officials are concerned that interpretation of the bill’s language would create unregulated entities susceptible to financial collapse and thus should not be added to pending patient protection legislation.

"AHPs, as currently set out in proposed legislation, would threaten the stability of small group markets and provide inadequate benefits and insufficient protection to consumers. To add AHPs…would actually reduce protections for many small business employees."

According to Sebelius, problems with HR 1174/858 have two main points: (1) they would "fragment and destabilize the small group market, resulting in higher premiums for many small businesses," and (2) they would be "exempt from state solvency requirements, patient protection and oversight, and thus place consumers at risk.

"We have accepted," she continued, "the two-part challenge of ensuring consumer protection while making health insurance accessible and affordable to small firms. For this reason, we ask that Congress reject legislation and continue to work with the states to find better ways to expand health insurance coverage and ensure basic consumer protections in a fair marketplace."