Long-Term Care Reform Package Making Its Way Through Legislature

California legislators are considering a package of 24 bills this session collectively aimed at improving the state's support network for aging services and long-term care.

The bills -- 12 in the Assembly and 12 in the Senate -- deal with a variety of issues involving some of the 112 separate programs for aging and long-term care overseen by 20 different agencies and departments in the state and county governments.

BALLOT INSTRUCTIONS: Read and follow the instructions carefully to ensure your vote is counted. 

Medicare is poised to overhaul the way it pays physicians and create new systems to reward high-performing doctors under legislation approved by the Senate late Tuesday.

The unusually bipartisan bill, which passed the House easily last month, will immediately lift the threat of an automatic 21% cut in Medicare fees to physicians, which was set to take effect Wednesday.

The legislation also marks a milestone in the push to modernize Medicare, the nation’s mammoth federal insurance program for the elderly, and move it away from the traditional system of paying physicians for every procedure they perform.

CSR Legislative Report for the 2015-16 Legislative Session

California State Retirees President Tim Behrens testified at a joint informational hearing on March 18 that the governor's plan to introduce a high-deductible health plan for CalPERS members is "the wrong path to take in addressing high health care costs."

"Such plans shift costs to workers, discourage people from accessing needed health care and would divide [CalPERS] health plans into those for the young and those for the old," Behrens testified before the joint Informational hearinig of the Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee and the Assembly Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A ballot measure campaign to cut California's public pensions will be launched in May by a coalition of politicians and business people led by former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, with the state's largest retirement system a prime target.

The measure would take aim at California's $300 billion giant Calpers, which has a near-iron grip on the state's pensions. Calpers, America's largest public pension fund and administrator of pensions for more than 3,000 state and local agencies, has long argued that pensions cannot be touched or renegotiated, even in bankruptcy.

Nearly three weeks after Anthem said it suffered a massive data breach, officials have an estimated tally for the number of Californians affected: 13.5 million residents.

That total includes current and former enrollees in Anthem Blue Cross, plus other California residents covered by other members of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association through out-of-state employers or similar arrangements, Anthem Blue Cross spokesman Darrel Ng said Tuesday.

The following PDF is a list of Bills that CSR is supporting, opposing, or watching.

All CalPERS members are being asked their thoughts on the newly redesigned PERSpective newsletter, which is mailed to members three times a year.

CalPERS Board Elects Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs

SACRAMENTO, CA - The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) Board of Administration has elected the following chairs and vice chairs of key board committees:

The 2015 Natixis Global Retirement Security Index put Switzerland at the No. 1 spot in its annual ranking of the well-being and “life conditions” that pre-retirees and retirees can expect across 150 countries. The prospects for current and aspiring retirees in America is less good: The U.S. is stuck at No. 19, where it’s been for the past three years. That means it beat out No. 20, Slovenia (hurray!), but trails countries including Luxembourg, Iceland, and Belgium.

Here is the link to the Anthem Blue Cross information page regarding the data breach and services being provided by Anthem Blue Cross.

The following PDF is a list of Bills that CSR is supporting, opposing, or watching.​

Class-action lawsuits have been filed in California and two other states against health insurer Anthem over a data breach affecting about 80 million customers, former customers and employees, Modern Healthcare reports.

WALL STREET JOURNAL -- The nation’s biggest online tax-software company halted electronic filing of all state returns amid reports from states of criminal attempts to obtain refunds through its systems.

Intuit said its TurboTax unit took action Thursday after seeing attempts to use stolen personal information to file fraudulent returns for tax refunds.

 As many as 80 million customers of the nation's second-largest health insurance company, Anthem Inc., have had their account information stolen, the company said in a statement.

If you’re a state retiree or planning to become one, a piece of Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2015-16 budget proposal could hit your wallet.

The governor’s plan envisions a new high-deductible, lower-premium health insurance policy for state workers. It would be paired with a tax-advantaged health savings account and take effect Jan. 1, 2016.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) Board of Administration unanimously re-elected Rob Feckner as Board president and elected Henry Jones as vice president. Feckner will be serving his 11th term as president, while it will be Jones' first vice presidential term.

In failing health and facing up to 30 years in prison, businessman Alfred Villalobos apparently committed suicide before going on trial in connection with the bribery scandal at CalPERS.

Villalobos’ attorneys, appearing at a pre-trial hearing in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, disclosed that Villalobos died the day before. His death ends the government’s criminal case against the Nevada businessman –and largely closes the books on a corruption scandal that roiled the nation’s largest public pension fund.

The Sacramento Bee reported Jan. 14 that Alfred Villalobos, accused of bribing former CalPERS Chief Executive Officer Fred Buenrostro to influence the fund’s business decisions, has died.