Latest California Healthline Stories
AMA Launches Campaign To Fight Medicare Payment Cuts
On Thursday, American Medical Association President James Rohack is scheduled to unveil a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign intended to encourage U.S. residents to lobby lawmakers to eliminate the 21% cut to physicians’ Medicare payments that took effect earlier this week. AMA has been calling for a permanent solution to the payment issue and a repeal of the sustainable growth rate formula, which determines changes in Medicare reimbursement rates based on what the program paid physicians in previous years. Roll Call.
Tobacco Tax Loophole Diverted Funds From Children’s Health Care
The Children’s Health Insurance Program missed out on $250 million in its first year because of a loophole in the tobacco tax code intended to fund the program’s expansion. The loophole allows firms to avoid the higher tax by re-labeling certain types of tobacco. AP/Boston Globe.
Editorial Urges Senate To Act on Medicare Payment Rates
Previous attempts to correct regional disparities in Medicare reimbursement rates “have failed due to funding debates and a politically insurmountable requirement that if reimbursements are increased here, they must be decreased somewhere else,” a Santa Rosa Press Democrat editorial states. It continues that a bill passed recently by the House “offers the best hope yet” for a long-term solution to the Medicare payment issue. The editorial concludes that local health care providers and other stakeholders “hope the Senate acts quickly — and prevents the situation from going from intolerably bad to something much worse.” Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
Assembly Approves Bill Requiring Prior Approval of Insurance Rate Hikes
Yesterday, the Assembly approved a bill that would require health insurers to obtain approval from the state before raising rates. Meanwhile, the Senate approved a bill that would grant medical parole to incapacitated prison inmates. Sacramento Bee‘s “Capitol Alert” et al.
Bills To Enact Reform Law Begin Advancing in Calif. Legislature
Yesterday, the Assembly passed a bill by Assembly Speaker John Pérez that would establish a health insurance exchange, ban lifetime coverage limits and allow children to remain on their parents’ health plans until age 26. The chamber also passed a measure that would prohibit health insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. AP/Ventura County Star et al.
Calif. Hospitals Scaling Up Efforts To Prevent Medical ‘Never Events’
The Department of Public Health has collected nearly $3 million in hospital fines for patient safety lapses since it began issuing penalties in 2007. The state plans to use $800,000 of the total to help hospitals prevent such errors. San Francisco Chronicle, Riverside Press-Enterprise.
GAO: MA Plans Might Have Piled Extra Costs on Healthy Beneficiaries
Medicare Advantage plans might have drawn healthy beneficiaries into low-premium plans and then charged high out-of-pocket costs, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. Democrats say the new health reform law will prevent such practices. The Hill.
Insurance Officials Call for More Time To Define Medical-Loss Ratio Rules
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners said it is not yet ready to set rules on medical-loss ratios under the health reform law. The law directs insurers to spend at least 80% to 85% of premium revenue on medical care and quality improvement. Washington Post.
Smith: Serious Effort Needed To Reduce U.S. Health Costs
While the new health reform law “has many positive provisions,” such as expanding health coverage to two million Californians, it lacks substantial measures to reduce health spending, Mark Smith, president and CEO of the California HealthCare Foundation, writes in a Sacramento Bee opinion piece. Smith suggests several efforts to create a financially sustainable U.S. health system, including reforming provider payments, increasing efficiency, boosting consumer health information and innovating to provide high quality care at a lower cost. CHCF is the publisher of California Healthline. Sacramento Bee.
Olive View Staff Under Fire for Alleged Violation of Anti-Kickback Laws
Los Angeles County officials are investigating recent allegations that three workers at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center received gifts from local nursing homes in exchange for referring patients enrolled in Medi-Cal and Medicare to the long-term care facilities. Los Angeles Times.