California insurance commissioner candidates take aim at Trump in campaigns

In the race for the top spot in the state’s Insurance Department, the president has become a political target. The race for the 2018 California insurance commissioner position is heating up and President Trump has become one of the central campaign political targets. State Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) has placed the spotlight on Trump and his policies. Lara placed the focus of his first ad running for California insurance commissioner on a depiction of Trump as being anti-female, anti-immigration, anti-healthcare and a denier of climate change. He called for…

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Will the California insurance commissioner be state Sen. Ricardo Lara in 2018?

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Lara announced that he will be running for the position next year on the heels of a state health care system proposal. Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) announced his intention to run for California insurance commissioner in 2018. This, only one month after submitting a proposal for a single-payer state health care system. This makes Lara one of four Democrats who have filed the documents necessary to start fundraising. These papers make it possible for possible California insurance commissioner candidates to begin fundraising for their campaigns. Lara’s announcement came with…

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Will California flood insurance be better without federal involvement?

Shasta Dam California flood insurance

The state is considering dropping out of the nationwide program in favor of establishing its own. California flood insurance found itself in the spotlight last month when the Oroville Dam threatened to fail. Erosion at the base of the dam’s emergency spillway forced the evacuation of 180,000 people until the area could be deemed safe again. This event greatly increased awareness of the importance of flood insurance within that part of the state. Helicopters were used to place massive boulders to plug the failing emergency spillway. This allowed the state…

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California health care bill calls for state-run system

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Looking forward to Congress’s likely repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the state is considering alternatives. The California health care system may be turned on its head if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. A state senator is looking to establish a state-run single-payer system through newly introduced legislation. This alternative system would allow the state to conduct the negotiations with providers and other companies. The proposed single-payer California health care system would have the state negotiating their own prices with providers and pharmaceutical companies among others. This would allow…

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California Insurance Commissioner granted greater homeowners coverage authority

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The state’s Supreme Court ruled that the legislature gave California power to make certain specifications. The California Insurance Commissioner has the authority to decide which factors must be covered by homeowners insurance replacement cost estimate tools, says a state Supreme Court ruling. This will allow the commissioner to say what estimate tools home insurance companies are permitted to use. The decision updated a law from 2011 which was meant to help to reduce the ongoing underinsurance problem in the state. The original issue became truly problematic in 1991 when the…

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