Latest California Healthline Stories
Bowles, Simpson Unveil Deficit-Reduction Plan To Avoid Sequester Cuts
Yesterday, Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson released a $2.4 trillion deficit-reduction proposal, which includes $600 billion in health care savings, in hopes of preventing automatic cuts under sequestration that are scheduled to take effect in March. Modern Healthcare et al.
Health Care Taking Up a Bigger Chunk of Budget, Report Finds
Health care and public employees’ salaries and retirement benefits are taking up a larger proportion of the state budget, according to a report released Tuesday by California Common Sense, a nonpartisan research group at Stanford University. The report found that that state health care programs saw the biggest increase in spending, growing from 13% to 20% of the state budget in the past six years. Los Angeles Times‘ “PolitiCal.”
Kaiser Cited as Model for Health Care Reform Implementation
State and federal officials have cited Kaiser Permanente’s focus on prevention, wellness, integrated care and use of electronic health records as a model for implementation of the Affordable Care Act. In addition, the California Legislature recently picked Kaiser as a model for other health plans to follow when they offer products through the state’s health insurance exchange. Sacramento Bee.
States Slow To Establish ACA’s ‘Health Homes’ for Mental Health Care
Only 10 states have received federal approval to establish “health homes” for Medicaid beneficiaries with mental illnesses, as called for under the Affordable Care Act. Experts say tight budgets and focus on other ACA provisions have stalled efforts in the remaining states. Politico.
LAO Report: Benefits of Medi-Cal Expansion Would Outweigh Costs
A Legislative Analyst’s Office report finds that the benefits of expanding Medi-Cal would outweigh the potential costs of the expansion. Meanwhile, the Assembly Health Committee has voted to advance a Medi-Cal expansion bill. AP/Sacramento Bee et al.
Opinion: Individual Mandate ‘Little More Than a Suggestion’
In an Orange County opinion piece, Sally Pipes — president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute — writes that the individual insurance mandate included in the Affordable Care Act “is turning out to be little more than a suggestion” because nearly 24 million individuals are “expected be exempt in 2016” and another six million people likely will pay a fine rather than purchase coverage. She writes, “[I]t’s clear that the individual mandate will fail to deliver the universal coverage its backers promised.” Orange County Register.
Anthem Blue Cross Halts Implementation of Mail-Order Rx Drug Program
Anthem Blue Cross has decided not to implement a program that would have required policyholders seeking specialty medications to use a mail-order pharmacy. The attorney general’s office suggested that the program likely would have violated California law. Los Angeles Times.
Jones Unveils 18-Region Plan for Setting Health Insurance Rates
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has released a proposal to divide California into 18 geographic regions for setting health insurance rates. According to Jones, the proposal would cause an 8% maximum premium increase. Sacramento Bee‘s “Capitol Alert.”
EHR Mistakes Might Be Underreported, Critic Says
Scot Silverstein — a physician and Drexel University adjunct professor — argues that many electronic health record-related mistakes might go unreported because the government does not require health care providers to disclose such problems. According to Silverstein, a growing collection of evidence suggests that poorly designed software can obscure clinical data and generate incorrect treatment orders, among other problems. Kaiser Health News/Philadelphia Inquirer.
White House Tweaks High-Risk Pools To Save Money
The Obama administration has made several changes to save money in the federal high-risk insurance pools created under the Affordable Care Act, out of concern that the $5 billion program would run out of money. Among various changes, the administration has increased enrollees’ maximum amount of out-of-pocket costs from $4,000 to $6,250 and reduced payment rates for providers, especially for hospitals treating a large volume of enrollees. Kaiser Health News‘ “Capsules.”