Latest California Healthline Stories
House GOP Members Ask Leadership To Support ACA Defunding Plan
About one-third of Republicans in the House have signed a letter to ask GOP leaders to support a plan to defund the Affordable Care Act through the annual budget process. House Speaker John Boehner does not support an effort to threaten a government shutdown to stop ACA funding. AP/Sacramento Bee et al.
Calif. Panel Approves, Fast-Tracks Audit of Prison Sterilizations
Members of California’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee have unanimously approved an investigation of the unauthorized sterilization of nearly 150 female inmates between 2006 and 2010. The panel members also asked the State Auditor’s office to make the investigation its highest priority. Center for Investigative Reporting.
Covered California Might Delay Full Functionality of Enrollment
A California health insurance exchange official says that Covered California might delay full functionality of online enrollment when the marketplace launches on Oct. 1. The exchange will have a better idea of the website’s capabilities next month, but officials are “very confident” that the marketplace will be fully functional by the launch date, according to the spokesperson. Wall Street Journal et al.
Covered Calif. Chooses Test Markets for TV Advertisements
On Thursday, Covered California spokesperson Dana Howard said that the state health insurance exchange has selected the Chico-Redding, Sacramento and San Diego regions as test markets for television advertisements promoting the online marketplace. According to Howard, the three areas were selected because they have a diverse mix of residents and comparatively inexpensive television advertising rates. U-T San Diego.
CalPERS Audit Process Could Revoke Health Insurance for at Least 22,000 People
CalPERS will pay HMS — an auditing firm — $3.5 million to conduct a series of audits to identify individuals improperly receiving health coverage through the system. The public employees retirement system believes at least 22,000 individuals who have insurance through state and local agencies should not be receiving such coverage. Early indications have suggested that removing such individuals will save taxpayers tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Sacramento Bee.
PCORI To Award Additional $300M for Comparative Effectiveness Research This Year
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute plans to award an additional $300 million for comparative effectiveness research before the end of the year. In May, PCORI — which was created under the Affordable Care Act to promote and support such research — awarded grants totaling $88.6 million for 51 research projects. The upcoming awards will push PCORI’s total 2013 funding for comparative effectiveness research to $418 million. Modern Healthcare.
California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of August 23, 2013
Doctors Medical Center has initiated preliminary talks with UC-San Francisco Medical Center to develop a partnership, according to hospital officials. The UC-San Diego Health System recently launched a new program at its Hillcrest and La Jolla hospitals that requires certain patients to wear orange wristbands to help workers ensure that the individuals do not wander without assistance.
HHS: More Doctors Accepting New Medicare Beneficiaries
The number of physicians accepting new Medicare beneficiaries increased by one-third between 2007 and 2011 and now surpasses the number of doctors accepting new patients with private insurance, according to a report from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The report, which has not yet been released publicly, was obtained by USA Today.
Some Calif. Hospitals Are Adjusting Policies Based on Projected Medicare Reimbursement Cuts
Some California hospitals — pressured by federal penalties for high readmissions — are revamping discharge procedures and assigning health coaches to monitor patients for up to a month after they have been discharged. Hospitals that exceed their expected readmission rate — based on the facility’s mix of patients — can lose up to 1% of their Medicare payments, a punishment which will rise to 2% in October and to 3% in 2014. Robert Wachter — a professor at the UC-San Francisco Department of Medicine — said that some facilities serving low-income communities or a high population of elderly patients may be hit harder by the reimbursement changes. HealthyCal.
UPS, UVA Drop Health Care Coverage for Spouses of Employees
On Wednesday, UPS and the University of Virginia separately announced that, in part because of costs associated with the Affordable Care Act, they will stop providing health care coverage to employees’ spouses who can obtain insurance through their own employer. Washington Times et al.