Latest California Healthline Stories
Republican Budget Proposals Include Health Care Spending Cuts
A new House GOP budget plan would create a voucher-like system for Medicare, convert Medicaid into a block grant program and repeal the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, a Senate GOP budget proposal expected later this week would reduce Medicare spending by $402 billion over the next decade. AP/Washington Times et al.
16.4M U.S. Residents Gain Coverage Since Passage of ACA, HHS Says
A new report from HHS shows that 16.4 million U.S. residents have gained health insurance coverage since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law. HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell says while she is pleased with the results, she thinks the administration can do more to boost coverage rates for blacks and Latinos. New York Times et al.
CHA Official: California’s Safety-Net Hospitals Are ‘at Risk’
California Hospital Association spokesperson Jan Emerson-Shea says safety-net hospitals in the state are “at risk” of succumbing to financial challenges caused by low Medicaid reimbursements, payment cuts under the Affordable Care Act and other issues. She notes that hospitals in the state lose “significant amounts of money” on each Medicaid patient they treat. Capital Public Radio’s “KXJZ News.”
Low Vaccination Rates To Blame for Disneyland Measles Outbreak
New research published in JAMA Pediatrics finds that vaccination rates were between 50% and 86% among individuals who were exposed to measles during an outbreak that began at Disneyland last year. The rates are far lower than the 96% vaccination rate required to maintain herd immunity. NPR‘s “Shots,” Los Angeles Times‘ “Science Now.”
LAO: Calif. Should Weigh Options for Retiree Health Care Funding
A Legislative Analyst’s Office report released yesterday recommends that lawmakers hold hearings before approving Gov. Brown’s proposal to address unfunded liability in the state’s retiree health care program. The report finds that the proposal “could constrain future state fiscal flexibility and require some employees to pay for benefits they will never receive.” Capital Public Radio’s “KXJZ News” et al.
Brown Talks Health Care, Immigration With White House Officials on Trip to Washington, D.C.
On Friday, Gov. Brown travelled to Washington, D.C., to meet with Obama administration officials, including HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, to discuss issues related to health care, immigration and water. Brown did not meet with President Obama, who was visiting a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Arizona at the time of the governor’s visit. Los Angeles Times‘ “Politics Now,” Sacramento Bee.
UCLA To Participate in New National Clinical Scholars Program for Doctors, Nurses
UCLA is one of four medical schools that will launch a new program designed to replace and build upon the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program. The new National Clinical Scholars Program will target physicians and nurses and aims to help reform the health care system from within. Modern Healthcare
Bankrupt San Bernardino Defends Plan To Repay CalPERS
San Bernardino, which filed for Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy in 2012, has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by two creditors over the city’s plan to fully repay its debts to CalPERS. Ambac Assurance Corp., a New York bond insurer, and EEPK, a Luxembourg bank, in January filed a lawsuit seeking repayment for a $59 million bond issued by the city in 2005. Sacramento Bee.
MedPAC Report Recommends Changes to Long-Term, Acute Care Payment Overhaul
A scheduled overhaul of Medicare reimbursements to long-term acute-care hospitals would not do enough to prevent them from timing patients’ discharges to garner the largest possible payments, according to a Medicare Payment Advisory Commission report released Friday. MedPAC recommended that only patients who spend at least eight days in an intensive care unit should qualify for the larger payments and that Medicare rejigger the daily payments to long-term acute-care hospitals so that reimbursements escalate gradually, removing sharp increases linked to a particular day of discharge. Wall Street Journal.
During an event in Berkeley on Saturday, experts touted the importance of health care providers in identifying and assisting individuals who are victims of human trafficking. Wendy Macias-Konstantopoulos, with Massachusetts General Hospital, said, “There’s a low awareness of human trafficking among health care providers,” citing a study that found 87.9% of survivors report having had contact with a health care provider while they were a victim. The event was sponsored by JPOW, the American Medical Women’s Association and the Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association. Bay Area News Group/Oakland Tribune.