Affordable Care Act

County Health Plan Enrollment Numbers Just Short of Projections

Valley Health Plan has managed to capture about 3 percent of the Santa Clara County market under Covered California, which is slightly below state levels. Though this figure pales in comparison to enrollment figures reported by the top four major healthcare providers, and it’s not as strong a figure as county officials expected two months away from the end-of-March enrollment deadline, it does represent a comparable market share to other small, local health plans, according to county officials.

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Getting Covered in California

It’s been nearly four years since I fought on the front lines of the health care reform battle, eventually resulting in the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare). But that feels like a lifetime ago, as the landmark policy now serves as a punchline. Not long from now, though, the joke will be on the critics.

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Campaign Ethics: Lies, Inconsistency and Money

The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University held a program on campaign ethics Friday. The central question posed: Do campaigns have ethical standards? It is not a question that can be fully answered in a sound bite. So let’s start with the three core issues: lies, inconsistency and money.

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Rules to Discuss Legislation Targeting Chronic Homeless

Of San Jose’s 5,000 or so homeless residents, nearly 30 percent are chronically on the streets, according to city housing officials. Most of the chronically homeless suffer from mental illness, physical disability, addiction or some combination of the three. On Wednesday, the San Jose’s Rules and Open Government Committee will discuss legislation that could address such problems.

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The Supreme Court Obamacare Fallout

By now everyone knows that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare). Some of the conversation has centered on why the reform was upheld, but more so the story has been advanced to focus on what this all means for the future of the country as well as President Obama’s re-election chances.

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