Latest California Healthline Stories
Study Links Insurance Status to Mortality Rates in ICUs
Uninsured patients in an intensive care unit are 21% more likely to die within 30 days than patients with private coverage, according to a study presented Monday at a meeting of the American Thoracic Society. Investigators said additional research is needed to determine whether a treatment bias caused the disparity. Reuters.
Budget Pressures Spur Several States To Cut In-Home Care Programs
Many states are targeting in-home health care services as they reduce Medicaid spending to close budget deficits. Although federal Medicaid law requires states to provide a minimum level of certain health services, coverage for in-home care programs is optional. Wall Street Journal.
CalPERS Board Delays Vote on $600M Contribution Increase
Yesterday, the governing board of the California Public Employees Retirement System said concerns about the state’s budget deficit prompted it to delay a vote on increasing California’s contribution to public employee retirement benefits. Gov. Schwarzenegger’s administration said the delay could lead to greater budget pressure in future years. Bloomberg/BusinessWeek et al.
Report: Elimination of Adult Day Health Care Could Cost California
A new report commissioned by the Congress of California Seniors estimates that Gov. Schwarzenegger’s plan to end funding for California’s adult day health care program could cost the state $51 million during the next fiscal year. San Francisco Chronicle‘s “Politics Blog.”
Grant Will Help UC-Davis Research Respiratory Disease
UC-Davis will open a 19,000-square-foot building to study respiratory diseases, including asthma and the effects of air pollution, with a $14.2 million grant awarded through the federal stimulus package. The school to date has received a total of $104 million in stimulus research awards and grants, officials said yesterday. Sacramento Business Journal.
AMA Takes Issue With Plan To Avert Medicare Reimbursement Cuts
Yesterday, the American Medical Association expressed opposition to a plan that would increase physicians’ Medicare payments over the next five years before a 37% cut in 2015. AMA is calling for a permanent fix and a repeal of the sustainable growth rate formula. CQ HealthBeat et al.
Budget Analyst Warns Against Cuts to State Safety Net Programs
On Tuesday, Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor called for lawmakers to reject Gov. Schwarzenegger’s proposals to eliminate California’s welfare program and other state services. Taylor recommended modest fee increases to help close the state’s budget deficit. Sacramento Bee et al.
Editorials: Lawmakers Must Quickly Act on State Budget
While Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s revised budget proposal “is a bad one because it indulges in buck-passing and … kicking the can down the road,” the plan could be seen as an attempt to “force from lawmakers and the courts something other than a simple ‘no’ to lesser program cutbacks,” a Los Angeles Times editorial states. The editorial notes that lawmakers, advocates and the courts have rejected previous Schwarzenegger budget proposals, yet “seldom counter with useful ideas of their own.” A San Francisco Chronicle editorial also takes aim at lawmakers, noting that despite a constitutional deadline of June 30 to pass a state budget each year, lawmakers routinely fail to do so, placing the state’s fiscal health in jeopardy and allowing budget deficits to grow. Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle.
L.A. County Hospital System Faces $204M Budget Gap
John Schunhoff, interim director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, told county supervisors the county’s hospital system will have a $204 million budget deficit by the end of the current fiscal year and a $600 million gap in 2010-2011. While the county had hoped to close the deficit with hospital provider fees and federal funding, those revenue streams are not finalized, Schunhoff said. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky requested that the county’s CEO and DHS staff members report within 30 days what steps they will take to address the budget gap. “KPCC News,” KPPC.
Audit: California Spent Millions on Health Care for Small Inmate Group
Between 2007 and 2008, California spent $185 million on specialty health care for 1,175 of the state’s 170,000 prison inmates, according to a new auditor’s report. The state Senate is considering legislation that would establish a medical parole system. Sacramento Bee et al.