Latest California Healthline Stories
California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of September 3, 2010
UC-Davis Medical Center is preparing to open its new $425 million Surgery and Emergency Services Pavilion over the next few months. Meanwhile, Simi Valley Hospital is closing a transitional care unit while officials decide whether to undertake significant renovations.
Survey: Employers Shift Health Costs to Workers at Higher Rate This Year
A new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust finds that employers are shifting health insurance costs to workers at a higher rate this year partially because of a weak economy and high unemployment rates. Washington Post et al.
State To Offer $9M in Loans to Clinics During Budget Stalemate
Yesterday, the state Treasurer’s Office announced that California would extend loans of up to $750,000 to community clinics and rural hospitals that have faced delayed Medi-Cal payments during the budget impasse. AP/San Francisco Chronicle.
Applications Available for Pre-Existing Condition Plan
The Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board is now accepting applications for California’s Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, a temporary program mandated by the health reform law to cover U.S. residents who have been denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. The state is getting $761 million in federal funds for the program, which will begin by the end of September and last until 2014, when insurers will be prevented from withholding coverage based on pre-existing conditions. San Diego Union-Tribune.
Report: Few Firms Likely To Use Reform Law’s Tax Credit
Although 16.6 million U.S. residents are employed by small businesses that are eligible for health insurance tax credits under the federal health reform law, just 3.4 million of those workers are at firms expected to take advantage of the credit, according to a new report by the Commonwealth Fund. According to the report, most of the firms that will take advantage of the credit already offer their employees health insurance. Washington Post.
Bill Addressing Overcrowding in EDs Fails To Pass Senate
A bill, by Assembly member Ted Lieu, that would require acute care hospitals in the state to review crowding levels in their emergency departments every four to six hours failed to pass the California Senate. The bill also would have required hospitals to develop a protocol to handle different stages of crowding. Modern Healthcare.
Report: Nearly Half of Calif. Hospital Workers Did Not Obtain Flu Shots
A Consumers Union report finds that 52.4% of California hospital workers received a flu shot last year and that 31% of hospitals did not report their vaccination rates to the state. California’s Department of Public Health disputed the findings. Los Angeles Times‘ “Booster Shots” et al.
Foreclosures Add to Health Problems, Report Says
Housing foreclosures can contribute to physical and mental health problems among the people and families involved, according to a new report from the Alameda County Public Health Department and the housing rights group Causa Justa/Just Cause. For the report, investigators surveyed nearly 400 residents of two Oakland neighborhoods that were particularly affected by foreclosures. San Francisco Chronicle.
Millions of Eligible Kids Not Enrolled in CHIP, Medicaid, Study Finds
A new Health Affairs study finds that about five million uninsured U.S. children are eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program but are not enrolled. The study notes that 39% of such children live in California, Florida or Texas. Reuters, Health Affairs.
Berwick: Health Reform Law Will Strengthen Medicare
The federal health reform law “encourages some of the most comprehensive payment and delivery system reforms in Medicare’s 45-year history,” including “innovative tools such as bundled payments, incentives for hospitals that prevent readmissions, and accountable care organizations,” CMS Administrator Donald Berwick writes in a Washington Post opinion piece. Berwick adds that estimated Medicare savings that are “not immediately needed to cover expenditures” will be “invested in Treasury bonds,” which “are used to cover other investments, such as expanding health coverage to 34 million uninsured people.” Washington Post.