Latest California Healthline Stories
Obama Leaves Door Open to Strategy on Health Reform
President Obama’s State of the Union address made clear that he will not back down on health reform and that he expects lawmakers to follow suit. What isn’t as clear is what path lawmakers will take to move forward.
Shift in Medicare Pay Policies Could Hit Safety Net Facilities
Researchers are raising concerns that efforts to cut Medicare reimbursement rates for preventable hospital readmissions could underscore disparities between facilities that cater to vulnerable populations and hospitals with patient bases that are higher up on the economic ladder.
Reform Debate Drives Question of Minimum Benefits
Cost has played a central role in the debate over health care reform, but much less has been made of fundamental questions over what level of benefits should be available. Is it better to provide a more generous benefits package, even if it means more people will be left without coverage?
Negotiators Prepare To Determine Details of Individual Mandate
Democratic leaders in the Senate and House included provisions in their health care reform bills that would require most Americans to buy coverage, an idea that Gov. Schwarzenegger had endorsed in his own health care overhaul plan. Will he stump for the individual mandate in a national plan?
Immigration Provisions Loom Over Efforts To Merge Reform Bills
Senate and House leaders are gearing up to work through differences in their respective health care reform bills. What they decide on provisions dealing with immigrants’ access to health insurance exchanges will have major implications for California and other states with large immigrant populations.
Pushback Grows as Senate Nears Passage of Health Reform Bill
Despite vocal opposition from Republican lawmakers, Democrats in the Senate now have the 60 votes they need to pass health care reform legislation. Amid the chorus of criticism, California’s senatorial stable remains strongly in favor of the bill.
Governor Points to Cost Concerns in Dialing Back Support for Reform
Gov. Schwarzenegger said he remains convinced that the nation needs health care reform but cautioned lawmakers against pushing through a bill just to meet a deadline. Schwarzenegger said current proposals would lead to a $3 billion increase in costs for California.
Senate Aims To Raise the Bar for Not-for-Profit Status in Health Care
Not-for-profit BlueCross BlueShield plans, including Blue Shield of California, would have to meet new standards for spending on health benefits under the Senate’s health care reform bill. Another provision of the bill would limit what not-for-profit hospitals could charge some patients for emergency care or other medically necessary services.
Kaiser, Other Plans Win Concession in Senate Health Care Legislation
Kaiser Permanente and other integrated health care systems would benefit from a provision of the Senate health care reform bill that would apply a new tax on insurers to fees from third-party administration agreements for self-insured plans. Such plans are far less common in California than they are in other states.
Senate Plan for High-Risk Pools Has Pluses, Minuses for California
The Senate health care reform bill calls for creating high-risk pools nationwide to provide coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions before health insurance exchanges are up and running. Under the plan, subscribers to California’s existing high-risk plan could face more out-of-pocket costs but also could see benefit caps eliminated.