North Bay Business Journal

Western Health Advantage formally filed plans with the state to be a part of Covered California, the state’s online health exchange that will go live in 2014 as part of the federal health care reform bill, the Affordable Care Act. …

On the federal level, the Obama Administration last week issued a host of new rules and details on how insurers can structure benefits and premiums beginning in 2014. …

Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company announced the appointment of Travis Bethune to the position of vice president, distribution management and services leader. …

NORTH BAY — Employers large and small are scrambling to assess the impact of the massive health care legislation passed in March.

This space has hinted at the vexing question of government’s intrusion into the private sector. But Wall Street Journal columnist Daniel Henninger nailed it last week when he wrote:

“The struggle over health care legislation isn’t just another battle between the Democratic and Republican parties. It’s about which force is going to take the United States forward for the next generation: the public sector or the private sector.”

In a commencement address at Arizona State University in May, President Barack Obama delivered a quip about having been denied an honorary degree by the institution. In response, Mr. Obama said, “The Board of Regents will soon learn all about being audited by the IRS.”