by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

The eyes of the nation are upon Pennsylvaia, but there's still a lot going on right here in California.  So, here are a few stories of note:

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Because, you know, they are ToughOnCrime^TM.  31 Assembly Republicans have filed to intervene, a legal procedure that would allow them to participate in the case, in the prison class action lawsuit. 

Thirty-one Assembly Republicans filed the motion in U.S. District Court asking, in essence, for more time to solve the crowding problem. According to the motion, a prison bill approved in May will help improve conditions in California's 33 prisons, where more than 173,000 inmates live in facilities built for 100,000. The $7.8 billion plan calls for 53,000 new prison and jail cells. Last month, federal judges in two class-action suits involving the impact of crowding on inmate medical and mental health care ordered a three-judge panel to recommend solutions to the crisis. In the process, the judges rejected the state's proposal and suggested that it would make matters worse for the prison system.

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"We're the ones who appropriate the money. We're the ones who write the laws with respect to corrections, and we're not even at the table," [Asm. Todd] Spitzer, R-Orange, said Monday. "That is unconscionable."

 More of the same from Spitzer over the flip

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

Blue Cross had been canceling thousands of policyholder's coverage, once they submitted claims, over minor and inadvertent errors. The tactic is widely known and deplored as "use-it-and-lose-it" health coverage. In order to settle a class-action lawsuit, they have agreed that they must show policyholder deception before final termination. However, the burden of proof is still on the consumer not the insurer. LAT:

"This is a very significant consumer health victory … something we believe they should have been following all along," said Cindy Ehnes, director of the state Department of Managed Health Care.

The deal is expected to send shock waves through an industry that had stood together in defense of insurers' ability to retroactively rescind coverage for any application omission, even honest mistakes. Blue Cross is by far the largest insurer in California's individual market, and its corporate parent, Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc., is the nation's largest provider of health benefits.

It would be nice to see some other companies, including Well Point step up and agree to do the same on their own, without the threat of class-action lawsuits. Unfortunately, the health insurance industry is only known for making reforms when they are on the other side of a pointy stick.