The Weekly Newspaper of Manhattan Beach Herald Publications - El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 Vol. 10, No. 9 September 1, 2016 Inside This Issue Certified and Licensed Professionals...................6 Classifieds............................2 Film Review..........................2 Finance..................................4 Food.......................................5 Looking Up...........................6 Pets........................................7 Seniors..................................3 Sports....................................3 Weekend Forecast Manhattan Beach Professor Receives Outstanding Professor Award Aetna Customers Won’t be the Only Ones Switching ACA Plans See Aetna Customers, page 4 Friday, September 2 Sunny 73˚/64˚ Saturday, September 3 Partly Cloudy 73˚/63˚ Sunday, September 4 Partly Cloudy 70˚/63˚ Cal State LA recognized Manhattan Beach resident Oscar Bernal and five other faculty members for excellence in the classroom and service to the community during the 2016 University Convocation at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex. (Photo credit: J. Emilio Flores/Cal State LA). See more in yellow box, below. By Rob McCarthy Aetna Health’s exit from the federally mandated health-insurance program doesn’t affect Californians, however, many residents covered under the Affordable Care Act will be shopping for another health plan in 2017 anyway. That’s because the health plans offered through the California marketplace are raising their rates by an average of nearly 13 percent in the next enrollment period. The double-digit increase for next year’s coverage will require participants to switch plans or pay most of the increase themselves, according to the exchange’s top official. “Almost 80 percent of our consumers will either be able to pay less than they are paying now, or see their rates go up by no more than 5 percent, if they shop and buy the lowest-cost plan at their same benefit level,” said Peter Lee, the executive director of Covered California, in last month’s rate-hike announcement. “Shopping is going to be more important this year than ever before,” Lee stressed ahead of re-enrollment that starts on Nov. 1. The rates charged by the health companies in the ACA are capped by law, and the rate increases reflect the cost of medical care to plan enrollees, Lee explained. The 10 health plans in the state’s insurance marketplace received permission from state officials to charge more in 2017 after negotiations that took place this summer. Insurers won’t be making “excessive profits” from the higher rates, the head of Covered California assured consumers. State officials approved the rate increases partly because an artificial cap on premiums is ending next year. The cap, known as reinsurance, was in place for the first three Local Cal State Professor Receives Award Cal State LA recognized Manhattan Beach resident Oscar Bernal and five other faculty members for excellence in the classroom and service to the community during the 2016 University Convocation at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex. Oscar Bernal, a professor of physics and astronomy in the College of Natural and Social Sciences at Cal State LA, was one of four Outstanding Professors honored for excellence in teaching and significant achievement in scholarly inquiry or creativity, as well as professional activities and community service, during the festive ceremony on August 18. Bernal is an expert in the field of experimental condensed matter physics. He studies and analyzes electronic states of matter found in superconductors and quantum magnets. Bernal spent a year conducting research and scholarly work at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Switzerland, University of Kyoto in Japan, and the National High Magnetic Field Lab in Florida. He has authored and coauthored 63 peer reviewed publications. Bernal is the principal investigator for the Cal State LA and Penn State Partnership for Research in Education and Materials. The program is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), which supports cutting-edge research in materials science and the participation of underrepresented groups in the field. Bernal has served as program director for the NSF and worked in the foundation’s Division of Materials Science as one of the managers of the Condensed Matter Physics Program. At Cal State LA, Bernal has served as associate chair, acting chair and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He obtained his M.S. in physics from Cal State LA and his Ph.D. from UC Riverside.• years to slow rate increases, which it did. The loss of the reinsurance cap accounts for up to 7 percent of the increased rates for Californians enrolled in the ACA. Medical inflation, especially higher prices for specialty drugs, will be a cost driver for patient care and the insurer bills next year, officials said. Two plans, which Lee did not identify, sought rate relief because they expect to enroll consumers who are sick and need care in the next calendar year. Though the state’s exchange approved the increase, the federal government will help pay some of it. The federal government will contribute more next year to defray the higher premiums for individuals and families, according to Covered California spokeswoman Lizelda Lopez. Federal assistance pays the full amount of coverage for people with incomes well below the poverty level, and low-income adults can qualify for financial assistance to pay their plan premiums. The formula for
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