Latest California Healthline Stories
House To Vote on ACA Employer, Individual Mandate Delays
Today, the House is scheduled to vote on two bills that would delay the individual and employer mandates under the Affordable Care Act. President Obama has said he would veto the bills, in the unlikely scenario they pass the Democratic-controlled Senate and reach his desk. AP/Sacramento Bee et al.
The number of San Francisco residents covered through Healthy San Francisco — the city’s near-universal health care program — and SF Path — a federally supported program to transition 10,000 low-income residents to health coverage under the Affordable Care Act — will decrease from 60,000 individuals to less than 20,000 individuals next year. However, the mandated fees imposed on city businesses are not decreasing at a comparable rate. San Francisco Business Times‘ “Bay Area Biz Talk.”
San Diego Supervisors Oppose Prison Release Order
On Tuesday, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to oppose a court order for the state to release thousands of inmates from prisons in an effort to reduce prison overcrowding and boost the quality of inmate health care. Gov. Brown has been fighting the court order, which calls for the release of about 10,000 inmates statewide, including about 800 in San Diego County. U-T San Diego.
ACA Could Help Close Mental Health Care Gaps in Calif., Study Finds
A California HealthCare Foundation study finds that several Affordable Care Act provisions — including the Medi-Cal expansion and the new health insurance exchange — could help California residents access mental health care treatment. Currently, about half of adults and two-thirds of adolescents with mental health problems in the state do not receive treatment, according to the study. Los Angeles Times.
California Hospital Association Offers Workshops on Shootings
The California Hospital Association has hosted 17 workshops in the past year to train more than 600 hospital employees to deal with a shooter in the workplace. The sessions were funded with grants from the Hospital Preparedness Grant Program. Los Angeles Times‘ “Nation Now.”
U.S. News Ranks Calif. Hospitals Among Best in the Country
U.S. News & World Report has named three California hospitals in its 2013-2014 “Honor Roll” of the top U.S. hospitals. To compile the list, U.S. News examined federal data that included hospitals’ infection rates, nurse-to-patient ratios and patient safety rates. U-T San Diego, U.S. News & World Report.
Editorial Says Concerns About Covered California Enrollment Counselors Are ‘Well-Founded’
An Orange County Register editorial argues that California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones’ concerns that the state health insurance exchange is not doing enough to ensure that people hired as enrollment counselors — individuals who will provide consumers with in-person assistance in signing up for health plans — are adequately screened and monitored are “well-founded.” According to the editorial, it is troubling that “Covered California is being urged” by experts “to be lenient on some prospective” counselors, since such workers could have access to Social Security numbers, medical histories and other confidential information. Orange County Register.
Study: Telehealth Services Led to Jump in Hospital Revenue
Hospitals that leverage telehealth technology and referred patients to children’s facilities experienced a significant boost in revenue, according to a study published in Telemedicine and e-Health. Researchers from UC-Davis Children’s Hospital found that the average number of patients transferred annually by the 16 hospitals nearly doubled from 143 transfers before the deployment of telehealth technology to 285 transfers after the hospitals began using telehealth tools. FierceHealthIT, Telemedicine and e-Health.
All Pioneer ACOs Improve Care, Only Some Lower Costs After One Year in Program, CMS Data Show
All 32 “Pioneer” accountable care organizations improved the quality of patient care in the first year of the program, but only about one-third lowered costs by enough to generate shared savings, according to data released Tuesday by CMS. The program is one of the Affordable Care Act’s signature initiatives to produce better care at a lower cost. Modern Healthcare et al.
Jump in Self Referrals Likely Driven by Financial Incentives, GAO Says
A new Government Accountability Office report finds that the number of self-referred pathology services increased at a quicker rate from 2004 to 2010 than non-self-referred pathology services, indicating that financial incentives behind self-referrals might be driving the jump. Modern Healthcare, CQ HealthBeat.