Latest California Healthline Stories
State Officials Applaud Rulings, Add: ‘We Need To Be Ready’
California officials who said they’d push forward with health care reform no matter what the Supreme Court ruled are pushing today with much less resistance after the Affordable Care Act rulings announced yesterday.
Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), who chairs the Senate Health Committee, said he was “surprisingly excited. We can take a deep breath now that we don’t have to worry about Californians having access to health care.” He admits, however, there is much more that California needs to do before 2014.
“The ruling establishes a legal foundation for our vision,” said Hernandez’s counterpart in the Assembly, Bill Monning (D-Carmel), who chairs the Assembly Committee on Health and is a strong advocate of preventive care.
Health Programs Take a Hit in Legislature
The California Legislature yesterday passed two budget trailer bills calling for relatively rapid changes in California’s Healthy Families program.
Although many organizations and health advocates opposed the two bills, most Democratic legislators voted for them. The bills call for a four-phase, one-year transition of enrollees in the Healthy Families Program to Medi-Cal managed care plans. Children’s health advocates lobbied unsuccessfully for a slower transition.
The Healthy Families changes are part of the state’s plan to cut more than $1 billion from health related programs to pare down a $15.7 billion deficit.
Autism Task Force Bill Moves to Assembly Health Committee
State Sen. Elaine Alquist’s (D-Santa Clara) bill to establish a telehealth task force for autism passed the Assembly’s Human Services Committee yesterday with a unanimous vote. Both Republican committee members — Brian Jones (Santee) and Shannon Grove (Bakersfield) — abstained.
Having received bipartisan support in the Senate before reaching the Human Services Committee, the bill by the Santa Clara Democrat has now been double- referred to the Assembly Health Committee.
SB 1050 establishes a telehealth task force under the State Department of Developmental Services to develop evaluation and diagnostic procedures for autism and other autistic spectrum disorders. It is sponsored by The Children’s Partnership, a national nonprofit, non-partisan, child advocacy group with offices in Santa Monica and Washington, D.C.
CO-OP Program Moves Forward in Senate
California took a small step toward instituting a new type of health insurance plan in the state — a not-for-profit, member-governed plan dubbed the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan, or CO-OP.
The new bill was introduced to the Senate in last week’s Senate Committee on Health hearing. AB 1846 by Assembly member Rich Gordon (D-Menlo Park) would pave the way for California to apply for some of the $3.8 billion the federal government is planning to loan to states to start CO-OPs. So far, 12 states have started the process.
“It’s a new type of health insurance, intended to offer affordable, consumer- friendly coverage … in the individual and small group market,” Gordon said. “This bill streamlines the licensure process, and allows California to take part in this program, and tap federal dollars.”
Heat Over Healthy Families Compromise Plan
Yesterday’s state budget compromise between legislative leaders and the governor includes a provision that 880,000 children in the Healthy Families program will complete the shift to Medi-Cal managed care within a year, beginning Jan. 1. State officials, who had been using an enrollment figure of 875,000, now say the Healthy Families programs serves 880,000 California children.
The timing of the shift ticks off Suzie Shupe, executive director of California Coverage and Health Initiatives (formerly known as the Children’s Health Initiative).
“We are really outraged over this deal that was struck,” Shupe said. “Despite both houses of the Legislature supporting the notion of transitioning just the bright-line kids, I can’t believe they decided to eliminate a popular and successful program in one fell swoop like this.”
Senate Rejects ACA/Exchange Bill
If the Supreme Court overturns part or all of the Affordable Care Act in a ruling expected within the next 10 days, California should be ready, according to Senator Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach).
Harman yesterday introduced SB 1321, which would require the California Health Benefit Exchange to submit a report to the Legislature within 90 days, if the Supreme Court reverses any part of the ACA.
The Senate Committee on Health rejected the measure.
Details of Exchange Begin to Emerge
California Health Benefit Exchange Board members yesterday heard presentations on a number of topics including stakeholder opinions on qualified health plans, potential exchange users’ opinions on what they need from the exchange and possibilities for creating call centers. All of those discussions seemed to lead to the same two things: cost and service.
“If we drop the ball on service, we will drop the ball on everything,” said Peter Lee, executive director of the exchange board. “Service matters.”
Lee was discussing the results of a discussion group of possible users of the exchange, who articulated what they would want in an exchange. He was also referring to a report submitted yesterday on defining the parameters for qualified health plans that will participate in the exchange.
Exchange Looks at Outreach, Focus Groups, By-Laws
The Supreme Court decision on the fate of the national health care reform law, expected this week or next, could have a significant impact on the work and purpose of the California Health Benefit Exchange.
But that isn’t slowing the project one bit.
Today, the exchange board meets to discuss some big agenda items: outreach, marketing, insurance coverage assisters and agents, the second phase of its establishment grant and yet another look at its bylaws.
HHS Funds Health Innovations Aimed at Improving Care, Saving Money
HHS on Friday announced 17 new recipients of health care innovation grants in California, the largest of which was a $19 million award for the Pacific Business Group on Health to expand its coordinated care project.
Nationwide, 81 innovation grants were dished out. Last month, HHS issued 26 innovation awards, including four in California. In all, California received 21 of the 107 grants.
“This means a significant expansion of something where we’ve seen good results so far,” said David Lansky, CEO of the Pacific Business Group on Health. PBGH received $19 million from HHS to expand the Intensive Outpatient Care Program in collaboration with the California Quality Collaborative, a network of providers in California.
Study Estimates High Enrollment for Exchange
As many as 2.1 million Californians will get subsidized health insurance coverage through the state’s new Health Benefit Exchange by 2019, according to a study released yesterday by the UC-Berkeley Labor Center and UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
Another 1.1 million from the unsubsidized individual health insurance market are expected to join the exchange as well, said UCLA researcher Dylan Roby. That would bring the estimated total to about 3.2 million.