Latest California Healthline Stories
Mental Hospital Officials: Safety Has Improved, but Violence Remains
California mental health hospital officials at a recent Assembly panel hearing said that safety has improved at the facilities but that violence remains too prevalent. At the hearing, hospital employees and police said they increasingly are concerned about the violent tendencies of patients, many of whom are sent to the facilities through the criminal justice system. Los Angeles Times.
Federal Exchange Glitches Continue; HHS Vows Fixes
Users of the federal online health insurance exchange created under the Affordable Care Act have been told they need to create new usernames and receive password resets in order to fix login problems and other technological glitches. HHS officials said they have identified the sources of the glitches and are working to resolve them soon. Washington Times et al.
Racial, Ethnic Health Disparities Remain in Calif., Report Finds
A report finds that racial and ethnic health disparities persist in California despite improvements in health care quality in recent years. According to the report, the infant mortality rate for African-Americans in the state was 9.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2010, compared with 4.7 deaths per 1,000 live births overall. Payers & Providers, California HealthCare Foundation report.
Joint Hearing Addresses Use of Solitary Confinement in Calif. Prisons
State lawmakers examined California’s use of security housing units for the isolation of prisoners at a recent joint hearing of the Assembly and Senate Public Safety Committees. Lawmakers said they lack information related to the units, such as the rate of nonviolent offenders placed in solitary confinement. Sacramento Bee et al.
Brown Signs Legislation Allowing Certain Providers To Perform Early Abortion Procedure
On Wednesday, Gov. Brown signed a bill, by Assembly member Toni Atkins, that would allow nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and physician assistants to perform an early abortion procedure known as an aspiration abortion. In a statement, Atkins said, “Timely access to reproductive health services is critical to women’s health,” adding, “AB 154 will ensure that no woman has to travel excessively long distances or wait for long periods in order to obtain an early abortion.” Los Angeles Times.
NIH has given Sutter Health a portion of a $2 million joint research grant to study the treatment of heart disease. Sutter will collaborate with Geisinger Health System and IBM Research to develop early-detection methods for heart disease, in part by using a combination of analytics and electronic health records. Payers & Providers, Sacramento Business Journal.
John Pérez To Run for State Controller in 2014
On Wednesday, Assembly Speaker John Pérez announced that he will run for state controller in 2014. On the same day, Peréz opened and added $1.5 million to a campaign account. In a release, he said, “Balancing our books is essential, but this job is about even more. It’s about promoting the financial stability that can offer every Californian the opportunity to succeed and contribute to our state’s prosperity.” Sacramento Bee‘s “Capitol Alert.”
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture threatened to shut down three California poultry processing facilities linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 278 people across 18 states. Officials have linked the outbreak to raw chicken products produced by California-based Foster Farms, which operates a main plant in Livingston and two smaller facilities in Fresno. USDA said that Foster has until Thursday to tell the department how it will fix the problem. Earlier this week, CDC recalled about 30 staffers who were furloughed as a result of the federal government shutdown to help respond to the salmonella outbreak. AP/Sacramento Bee et al.
Enrollment Easier, More Efficient in State-Run Exchanges
State-run health insurance exchanges pose fewer obstacles for consumers purchasing coverage than the federally run exchanges because the state-based portals are able to quickly identify and resolve technical glitches, experts say. Unlike the website for the federal exchanges, some state portals also allow visitors to browse and compare insurance plans without requiring user accounts. New York Times.
Federal Exchange Website’s Software Inefficiencies Blamed for Delays
On Tuesday, health policy and technology experts said that the federal health insurance exchange website created under the Affordable Care Act has large amounts of inefficient software code and lacks an important “window shopping” feature, which likely contributed to the ongoing enrollment problems and delays. AP/U-T San Diego et al.