Latest California Healthline Stories
Brown’s Tax Plan Could Yield Less Revenue Than Projected, LAO Says
The Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates that Gov. Brown’s plan to temporarily hike certain taxes would generate about $2 billion less than what the state projects. Deeper spending cuts could be made if LAO’s estimate is correct. Bloomberg et al.
Health Net To Sell Medicare Rx Business to CVS for $160M
On Monday, Woodland Hills-based Health Net announced plans to sell its Medicare Part D prescription drug plan business to CVS Caremark for $160 million. Health Net said it expects to net $140 million cash from the sale of its PDP business, which has about 400,000 customers in 49 states and the District of Columbia, and generates about $490 million in annual revenue. The acquisition, which requires CMS approval, is expected to close in the second quarter of this year. Los Angeles Business Journal, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal.
CMS Names Final Recipients of Health Overhaul Waivers
Last week, CMS released a list of the final recipients of one- to three-year waivers that exempt certain health plans from coverage-level mandates in the federal health reform law. The waivers went to 1,231 health plans and employers that cover 3.9 million individuals. Under the waivers, the minimum annual dollar limit on essential benefits that the recipient must provide is $750,000 in 2011, $1.25 million in 2012 and $2 million in 2013. Beginning in 2014, the health reform law prohibits dollar limits on essential benefits. The Hill‘s “Healthwatch,” Modern Healthcare.
State No Longer Will Seek Refunds for Some Welfare Overpayments
California no longer will seek refunds for overpayments it made to some CalWORKs beneficiaries who were minors when their caregivers received excess funds. The adjustment stems from a lawsuit filed against the state last year. San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal.
Low Income Health Plan Offers Ways To Expand Mental Health Services
The Low Income Health Program aims to expand access to mental health care in California by setting minimum guidelines for mental health care, such as providing beneficiaries with up to 10 days of acute inpatient treatment and up to 12 outpatient treatments annually. HealthyCal.
U.S. Health Spending Grew at Near-Record Low in 2010, CMS Finds
A CMS analysis finds that U.S. health spending grew by 3.9% in 2010, a near-historic low rate that CMS attributed to the economic downturn. According to the report, the federal health reform law did not significantly drive up health care costs in 2010. New York Times et al.
Opinion: Protect Funds for IHSS Anti-Fraud Initiatives
“Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to save money by cutting state funding to combat In-Home Supportive Services fraud is penny-wise and pound-foolish” because it “will create an open season for criminals to bilk taxpayers out of the very dollars he wants to save,” Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully writes in a Sacramento Bee opinion piece. “For the past two fiscal years, the state budget included $10 million for IHSS fraud investigations,” which “made California eligible to receive $10 million in additional federal funds, totaling $20 million each fiscal year for distribution to any county willing to implement an IHSS fraud investigation plan,” she notes. “The governor should protect IHSS fraud prevention funds because … [f]ailing to do so will be a disservice to IHSS participants, taxpayers and communities throughout California,” Scully concludes. Sacramento Bee.
Hospitals Spent $39B in Uncompensated Care in 2010
In 2010, community hospitals provided $39.3 billion in uncompensated care, an increase of nearly $200 million over 2009, according to the American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey of Hospitals. The report contains data from nearly 5,000 U.S. hospitals and factors in both the estimated cost of treatment for the uninsured and the amount of hospitals’ bad debt. The $39.3 billion figure represents 5.8% of the $678 billion in total hospital expenditures in 2010, or $7.9 million per hospital, according to the report. Modern Healthcare.
FDA Warns of Possible Painkiller Shortage After Issues at Novartis Plant
Yesterday, FDA officials warned about possible shortages of several painkillers made by Endo Pharmaceuticals because of manufacturing issues at a Novartis facility that produced the drugs. Endo said it expects “minimal” disruption in supply. AP/San Francisco Chronicle et al.
Bayer Eyes S.F. Lab Space for Startup Life Science Firms
On Monday, Bayer HealthCare announced plans to create a 6,000 square-foot shared lab, called CoLaborator, to house startup life science companies that have technology platforms, drug targets or drug candidates that align with Bayer’s portfolio. The move comes one year after the drug developer launched its Innovation Center in San Francisco’s Mission Bay area. The new CoLaborator will launch in the summer in Mission Bay and is expected to house three to four small companies. San Francisco Business Times, Healthcare IT News.