Latest California Healthline Stories
Health Benefit Exchange Delays Setting Employer, Employee Choice
California Health Benefit Exchange officials have delayed action on setting employers’ and employees’ ability to choose among tiers of health insurance coverage and health plans. Officials question whether choice could affect coverage affordability. Sacramento Business Journal.
Calif. Not-for-Profit Tech Firm Plays Role in Health Reform
Oakland-based not-for-profit Social Interest Solutions has helped make California a leader in the use of technology to enroll residents and public health and social services through its development of the Health-e-App and One-e-App tools. The group now is working to help set up health insurance exchanges throughout the country. Sacramento Business Journal.
Insurance Regulation Measure Qualifies for Nov. 2014 Ballot
An initiative — sponsored by Consumer Watchdog — that would give the state insurance commissioner the authority to approve or reject health insurance rate changes has qualified for the November 2014 ballot. Proponents of the measure had sought to qualify the initiative for this year’s ballot, but election officials were unable to validate enough signatures by the June deadline. San Jose Mercury News, Sacramento Bee‘s “Capitol Alert.”
Legislature Approves Audit of Use of Prop. 63 Mental Health Funding
The Joint Legislative Audit Committee has approved an audit of how California spends mental health funding. According to the state auditor, the audit will take seven to eight months to complete and will cost the state nearly $450,000. AP/U-T San Diego, Steinberg release.
Calif. Receives $196M Grant From HHS To Establish Exchange
HHS has distributed a third federal grant — for $196 million — to help California develop its health insurance exchange. The agency also provided grants to seven other states that have made progress in planning their exchanges. The Hill‘s ‘Healthwatch” et al.
Study Finds 41% of Adults See Specialists for General Care
Forty-one percent of U.S. adults go to a specialist instead of a primary care physician for general care, according to a study published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. According to the study, patients might be turning to specialists because they believe such doctors are better at treating specific conditions or because of a shortage of primary care physicians in the U.S. Reuters.
New Program for Addicted Physicians Spurs Debate
There is widespread support for legislation to create a new state program to help doctors who are struggling with addiction, but consumer advocates, doctors and lawmakers still are debating the language of the bill. A previous program was shut down five years ago after audits found it failed to hold doctors with addition problems accountable and fell short in protecting the public. California Watch.
Not-for-Profit Health Groups More Likely To Be Audited
Not-for-profit health care institutions are audited by external entities at a rate more than 50% higher than for-profit organizations, according to a recent study by the Health Care Compliance Association. The study found that not-for-profits on average were audited six times each calendar year, compared with fewer than four audits among for-profits. Payers & Providers.
Hospital Group Seeks More Medicaid Expansion Details
In a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Monday, American Hospital Association President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock said the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act has created several uncertainties about Medicaid and asked for additional details about the program’s expansion under the law. The letter included 12 questions that primarily focused on payment issues relating to AHA’s members. Modern Healthcare, Becker’s Hospital Review.
California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of August 24, 2012
Napa State Hospital has announced that staffers soon will be able to carry safety alarms on belt loops after a patient used a lanyard in an attack against an employee. Under a new proposal by Stonebridge Properties, Sutter Memorial Hospital would be torn down and replaced with up to 125 housing units.