Latest California Healthline Stories
Groups: High Court Should Decline State Medicaid Case
A group representing Medicaid providers nationwide has sent a letter to acting Solicitor General Neal Kumar Katyal arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court should not take up a California case involving Medicaid payment reductions in the state. The organizations wrote that the decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to block the state’s 10% across-the-board cut to Medi-Cal providers “is consistent with decades of Supreme Court precedent.” Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program. AHA News.
MRMIB Unveils Rates, Details on New High-Risk Insurance Pool
Yesterday, the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board set premium rates and named two companies to administer California’s new high-risk health insurance pool established under the federal health reform law. San Francisco Chronicle, San Diego Union-Tribune.
Fremont Institute Wins $34M Contract for Cancer Registry
Fremont-based Cancer Prevention Institute of California has secured a seven-year, $34.3 million contract with the National Cancer Institute to help support its operation of the Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry. The registry tracks cancer-related data in nine San Francisco Bay Area counties and disseminates the data for other research purposes. San Francisco Business Times.
Editorial: State Suits on Health Law Will Not Prevail
State lawsuits alleging that the individual mandate in the health reform law violates the commerce clause will fail because the mandate is “an essential part of the law’s insurance reforms and not an arbitrary intrusion into an individual’s ability to tend to his or her own interests,” a Los Angeles Times editorial states. The reform law “tries to make the system function more rationally by requiring insurers to offer coverage to everyone,” and the individual mandate to purchase insurance will prevent individuals from waiting to buy insurance until they need costly care, the editorial notes. Los Angeles Times.
California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of August 6, 2010
Redwood City’s city council has approved Kaiser Permanente’s plans for a new 149-bed hospital in San Mateo County. Meanwhile, Valley Health System is aiming for Aug. 23 as the target closing date for the sale of the public hospital district’s assets.
States, Business Group Respond to DOJ’s Motion To Dismiss Reform Suit
Today, several states, individuals and the National Federation of Independent Business plan to file a response to a motion by the Department of Justice to throw out their lawsuit challenging certain elements of the health reform law. AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Group Blasts Gov.’s Proposal for Health Plan Rate Reviews
This week, the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog sent a letter urging HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to reject Gov. Schwarzenegger’s application for a $1 million grant to bolster the state’s process for reviewing health insurance rate increases. The group criticized the governor’s plan because it would use the funds to hire actuaries to review rate filings without allowing the actuaries to reject rate increases. The Hill‘s “Healthwatch.”
Medicare Trustee Report Says Program Solvency Will Extend to 2029
A report released Thursday predicts that the Medicare trust fund will be solvent for 12 years longer than previously predicted because of savings under health reform. However, some analysts warn that the report’s conclusions are not entirely accurate. Washington Post et al.
Opinion: Veterans Program Curbs State Health Spending
State lawmakers should reconsider proposed cuts to the County Veterans Services Officers program, Assembly member Paul Cook and veterans advocate Pete Conaty write in a Capitol Weekly opinion piece. They add that CVSO is “a little known but highly successful program that pumps hundreds of millions of dollars into our economy each year, helps generates tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue and saves the state millions more in health and social service spending.” Capitol Weekly.
California To Enact New Rules To Curb Improper Health Plan Rescissions
Beginning Aug. 18, California health insurers will need to follow new rules on how they conduct investigations prior to possible rescissions and how they phrase questions included on policyholders’ applications and health history forms. Central Valley Business Times.