Latest California Healthline Stories
Columnist Says Calif. Budget Process Reverting to Secrecy
Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters argues that in recent years the annual budget process “has been reverting to secrecy, with major policy decrees, including those totally unrelated to the budget, being drafted in the dead of night and enacted without any public exposure.” He writes, “This year, the Legislature is taking even more steps down the path to secret government by abolishing the traditional ‘conference committee’ that goes through the budget line by line in public, and by increasing the number of so-called ‘trailer bills,’ many of which contain token $1,000 appropriations, but have no real budget connection.” Sacramento Bee.
Anthem Agrees To Cover ‘Investigational’ Treatment
A UC-Davis graduate student
is receiving treatment in Texas for a rare and potentially fatal malignant
tumor after launching an online petition to pressure insurer Anthem Blue Cross
to cover the cost of the experimental treatment. Anthem in a letter said its
evaluators made an exception and that the decision “does not mean that we
endorse the safety or effectiveness” of the treatment. Sacramento Bee.
California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of June 8, 2012
Next Wednesday, the California Nurses Association-National Nurses United plans to hold a one-day strike at Sutter Health hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area. Meanwhile, Scripps Green Hospital recently became part of the first international kidney paired transplant chain.
Poll: 68% Want All, Part of Reform Law Struck Down
More than two-thirds of respondents to a new CBS News/New York Times poll said they want the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down all or part of the federal health reform law. The court is expected to deliver its ruling on the constitutionality of the overhaul and the individual mandate later this month. New York Times‘ “The Caucus” et al.
Advocates Rally at Capitol To Protest IHSS Budget Cuts
On Thursday, nearly 1,000 advocates gathered at the state Capitol to deliver 75,000 petitions urging lawmakers to reject a proposal to cut spending on In-Home Supportive Services. Gov. Brown’s revised fiscal year 2012-2013 budget plan calls for cutting $224.5 million from IHSS by eliminating domestic assistance for beneficiaries in shared living environments and reducing worker payments by 7%. Sacramento Bee‘s “Capitol Alert.”
Brown, Democrats Work To Bridge $2B Divide Over State Budget Cuts
Gov. Brown and Democratic legislators have been meeting to discuss disagreements over proposed state budget cuts. Meanwhile, a new Field Poll finds low voter confidence in lawmakers’ ability to resolve the budget deficit. Sacramento Bee‘s “Capitol Alert” et al.
House Approves Bill To Repeal Reform Law’s Tax on Medical Devices
The House approved a bill to repeal an excise tax on medical devices created to help fund the federal health reform law. However, the bill has little chance of passing the Senate, and the White House has said President Obama would veto the measure if it reaches his desk. Politico et al.
FCC Chair Discusses Mobile, Wireless Health Technologies
Federal Communications Commission Chair Julius Genachowski met this week with leaders from the private sector, government and academia to discuss how mobile health technology could improve care and lower costs. He also announced plans to ease access to spectrum to make it easier to test wireless medical monitoring devices and bring them to market. The Hill‘s “Hillicon Valley.”
Opinion: Raise Tobacco Tax To Aid Health Care, Close Deficit
Using a higher tobacco tax to partially close California’s $15.7 billion budget deficit “should be a no-brainer,” columnist George Skelton writes in a Los Angeles Times column. According to Skelton, Gov. Brown and the Legislature should “collect some courage and character” and raise the tax. Besides addressing the state’s deficit, the move also could “rescue some old [spending programs], especially health care for the poor through Medi-Cal.” Los Angeles Times.
Few Mass. Residents Penalized for Not Obtaining Insurance
In 2009, fewer than 1% of all Massachusetts residents paid a penalty for failing to obtain health coverage under the individual mandate in the state’s 2006 health care law. There also was little opposition to the mandate, largely because most residents already had health coverage before the law took effect. Meanwhile at the national level, about 94% of all U.S. residents would be exempt from penalties when the federal individual mandate takes effect in 2014, according to an Urban Institute study.