Latest California Healthline Stories
10 Calif. Hospitals Among U.S. News’ List of ‘Most Connected’
Ten California hospitals were included in U.S. News & World Report‘s 2015-2016 list of the nation’s “Most Connected Hospitals,” which recognizes facilities for their use of health information technology to improve patient care. California tied with Texas for the fifth most facilities on the list. U.S. News & World Report et al.
Co-Ops in Colorado, Oregon Announce Plans To Shut Down
Two more not-for-profit cooperative health plans established under the Affordable Care Act have announced that they will shut down, leaving just 15 of the original 23 co-ops in operation next year. The Colorado HealthOP and Health Republic Insurance in Oregon both cited low risk corridor payments as a contributing factor. The Hill et al.
CMS Reduced Financial Awards for 65 ACOs Due to Quality Scores
A Leavitt Partners analysis finds that CMS lowered 65 Medicare accountable care organizations’ financial awards for 2014 by $41 million because of quality performance. According to policy experts, the ACOs’ weak performance raises questions about the accuracy of the quality measures used in the program. Modern Healthcare.
Narrow Networks, Low Quality Not Linked in Covered Calif. Plans
An analysis of Covered California health plans finds that narrow hospital networks are not typically associated with lower quality, with performance varying more by region. However, the lowest-performing hospitals were in very small networks “suggesting that extreme narrowness may be problematic.” FierceHealthPayer et al.
DOI: 27.4% Rate Hike for Aetna Small Businesses ‘Unreasonable’
The state Department of Insurance says Aetna’s average rate increase of more than 27% for its small business health plans “was based on an unreasonable and excessive pricing trend and other unreasonable assumptions.” Aetna argues that the increase is necessary because the unit costs of inpatient admissions and other services increased. Sacramento Business Journal, DOI release.
Calif. Lawmaker Proposes Bill To Expand Medicaid Coverage for Former Foster Children
Reps. Karen Bass and Jim McDermott have introduced legislation that would allow former foster children to be eligible for Medicaid in any state. Under the Affordable Care Act, young adults who age out of the foster care system remain eligible for Medicaid until they are 26 years old, but only in the state where they were fostered. Kaiser Health News/KQED’s “State of Health.”
Group Pressures Medical Board of Calif. on Probation Transparency
Consumers Union has filed an administrative petition urging the Medical Board of California to require physicians who are on probation to notify their patients of their status. MBC regulates about 130,000 physicians with active California licenses, about 500 of whom are on probation. Sacramento Business Journal, Consumers Union release.
Feinstein Introduces Bill Targeting Large Premium Increases
Sen. Dianne Feinstein has introduced a bill that would give the HHS secretary the authority to change or block unreasonable premium insurance increases in states where regulators lack such power. In a release, Feinstein wrote that regulators in California and 14 other states do not have the authority to prevent unjust premium increases. A companion measure has been introduced in the House by Rep. Jan Schakowsky. North Cook News.
Utah Lawmakers Reject Gov.’s Medicaid Expansion Plan
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert’s effort to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has stalled after the state House rejected his proposal. Utah seemed to be the most likely of the remaining non-expansion states to expand its Medicaid program. If the proposal had been approved, Utah would have been the 31st state to expand Medicaid. The Hill.
Pan: Many Children Enrolled in Denti-Cal Can’t Access Care
In a Sacramento Observer opinion piece, California Sen. Richard Pan argues that nearly 60% of the 5.1 million California children enrolled in Denti-Cal “might as well not be covered at all because they are not receiving any form of dental care.” He writes, “I have been working hard to fix this broken system by exposing the reality that too many Californians on Denti-Cal are unable to obtain dental care.” Sacramento Observer.