Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Division of Workers’ Comp Issues Revised Drug Formulary Regulations
Jul 18 2017 // The California Division of Workers’ Compensation has issued modified proposed regulations to adopt the medical treatment utilization schedule drug formulary. The proposed rulemaking implements Assembly Bill 1124,...
California’s Drought Is Over, but a New Report Shows Wildfire Risk is High for Millions
Jul 18 2017 // California’s drought-ridden feet aren’t out of the proverbial fire yet. This years’ powerful winter storms ended perpetual discourse about the state’s multiyear drought, but there are still 4.5...
California Commissioner Wants Investigation Following Airline Near Miss
Jul 18 2017 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, who was a passenger last week on the Air Canada flight 759 that nearly landed on a taxiway at San Francisco International Airport, has sent a letter to the airline and three...
2 New California Wildfires Prompt Evacuation Orders
Jul 18 2017 // A wildfire burning in central California tripled in size Monday, forcing more people from their homes as firefighters battle the day-old blaze. The fire is burning near Lake McClure, a reservoir about 50 miles east of...
California Department of Workers’ Comp Says 441K-plus Lien Declarations Filed
Jul 17 2017 // The California Division of Workers’ Compensation is reporting that 441,070 supplemental lien declaration forms were filed. This amount represents half of the 882,648 liens filed in California’s workers’...
Top Scientists Sue Esteemed California Institute for Gender Discrimination
Jul 17 2017 // Two top scientists are suing their employer, the Salk Institute, alleging that they and other women have suffered long-term gender discrimination at the renowned California research center. Vicki Lundblad and Katherine...
California Commissioner Was Passenger on Jet That Nearly Landed on Taxiway
Jul 14 2017 // A top California state official said he was a passenger on an Air Canada jet that nearly landed on a taxiway where four other planes were sitting rather than the designated runway at San Francisco International Airport...
California Governor Teaming with N.Y. Mayor to Track Climate Progress
Jul 14 2017 // California Gov. Jerry Brown announced yet another plan Wednesday to keep the United States on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the international Paris climate agreement. This time, he’s teaming up with...
California Workers’ Comp Medical Review Runs Through 13K Disputes Each Month
Jul 14 2017 // A new progress report from the California Department of Industrial Relations on the department’s independent medical review program shows that 13,000 decisions run through the medical dispute resolution process each...
As California Wildfire Wanes, Evacuees Return and Damage is Measured
Jul 13 2017 // Relief was arriving after a rough stretch of wildfires all around the U.S. West, with firefighters slowly surrounding once-fierce blazes and evacuees starting to stream back home. Authorities surveying the damage from a...
Lobbyists at California Comp Conference Call Tension between D.C. and Sacramento ‘Palpable’
Jul 12 2017 // The tension between Washington D.C. and Sacramento seems to have created extra work for some lobbyists. “It’s absolutely palpable,” Paul Yoder, managing director for the California Coalition on...
California Lawmakers Release Plan to Extend Cap And Trade
Jul 12 2017 // Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders have released a plan to extend through 2030 California’s cap-and-trade program, a key piece of the state’s quest to fight climate change by drastically reducing...
California Wildfires Feeding on Grass Fed by Winter Rain
Jul 12 2017 // Wildfires driving people from their homes in California and throughout the West have had help from an unlikely source: the rain. Major winter downpours that pulled the state out of years of drought also brought a layer of...
States See Mixed Results from Reforms Targeting Physician-Dispensed Drugs: WCRI
Jul 12 2017 // A new study has found that state reforms to control the costs of prescription drugs by targeting reimbursements for physicians dispensing them are having some effect but that physician-dispensing still accounts for a large...
Northern California Wildfire Destroys 37 Structures
Jul 11 2017 // A Northern California wildfire has destroyed 37 structures, at least some of them homes. The figure is up from 17 destroyed structures previously reported by state fire officials. However, the blaze weakened significantly...
Does Consumer Watchdog Founder Want Asimov-like Rules for Robot Cars?
Jul 10 2017 // Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv A virtual grin arose on the face of Harvey Rosenfield with the mention of Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics. The mention was made during a phone call, but the overwhelming...
California Blazes Among Numerous Wildfires in Western U.S.
Jul 10 2017 // Two major wildfires in California that have forced nearly 8,000 people out of their homes are among numerous fires in the Western U.S. that have barreled across the baking landscape, destroying property. About 4,000 people...
Deluges Follow Droughts as ‘Hydrological Extremes’ Become ‘New Normal’
Jul 10 2017 // Texas struggled through its driest year in history in 2011. Four years later was its wettest ever. The Mississippi River rose to all-time-high flood levels in 2011. In 2012, its second-lowest. After a six-year drought that...
Insurtech Startup Buys MGA in California with Aim of Delivering Product for Agents
Jul 10 2017 // Insurtech startup Bridger has purchased Pleasanton, Calif.-based SCJ Insurance Services in a step toward launching what the firm contends will be “simpler, cheaper, and easier-to-manage automotive...
Zenefits to Pay $3.4M for Fair Labor Act Violations in California, Arizona
Jul 10 2017 // Zenefits is in trouble with another government regulator. San Francisco, Calif.-based Zenefits FTW Insurance Services violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by misclassifying 743 account executives and sales development...