Latest California Healthline Stories
Forum Explores Dealing with Chronic Care Under ACA
Chronic health conditions remain one of the contributing factors to financial and utilization strain on the health care system, and there are a number of steps that can be taken to address them, according to a panel of experts that met recently in San Jose.
The forum, called “Chronic Disease: A Common Sense Approach to Solving Complex Health Issues,” was held Nov. 27 and hosted by the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease. The moderator, Ken Thorpe, chairman of the partnership, said dealing with chronic conditions may be the most important health care concern of our time.
“We all know the prevalence of obesity has doubled since the early 1980s, and that doubling of obesity accounts for about 10% of health costs in this country,” Thorpe said. “Because the rise in prevalence of obesity has contributed to the rise in diabetes, as well as hyperlipidemia, hypertension and other related chronic health conditions.”
Health Care on California Ballots, Directly and Indirectly
California voters will deal directly and indirectly with health care issues in next week’s elections. On city and county ballots, voters will decide issues ranging from soda taxes to medical marijuana laws. Statewide propositions have potential for indirect but significant repercussions for health care.
Important Bills on Horizon for CMA
The California Medical Association, which keeps an eye on all health-related legislation in California, last week released its “Hot List” of proposed health care bills in the next legislative session.
“Given that health care reform continues to be such a big concern, access to care for patients is going to be a big one,” said Molly Weedn, director of media relations for CMA. “And we’re looking at a lot of public health issues this year, like childhood obesity, for instance.”
There are 30 pieces of proposed legislation on this year’s Hot List, including nine bills sponsored by CMA.
No-Cost Clinic Faces Hard Times, Uncertain Future
Al Shifa Free Clinic near San Bernardino — one of two no-cost clinics in Riverside and San Bernardino counties providing care for uninsured residents — is scraping to make ends meet and exploring ways to survive under health care reform.
What Food Issues Mean to Health Care
A new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found that 3.8 million Californians in 2009 had times during the year when they could not afford food.
Based on data from the California Health Interview Survey, the new study of showed a marked rise from the 2.5 million Californians with food insecurity eight years before, in 2001. That’s an increase of about half (49%), during a time period where California’s population grew by about 10%.
“The numbers are quite striking,” said UCLA researcher Gail Harrison. “We knew what the trend was going to be, but this was a much more striking increase than I thought there would be.”
How Should California Deal With Obesity?
Battle lines against obesity are being drawn in several arenas — from a proposed tax on sugary drinks in a Northern California city to a new national Walt Disney Company policy against accepting junk-food advertising. We asked experts what California should do.
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.
San Diego Barbershops Offer Shave, Haircut and Health Screening
Volunteers this month will descend on barbershops in Southeast San Diego to screen African-American men for diabetes and high blood pressure during a multicity event aimed at raising awareness and addressing health disparities.
Survey: Californians Concur on Need for Prevention
At a joint Assembly and Senate health hearing yesterday, results of a Field Poll unveiled a few days shy of the official release indicate that an overwhelming majority of Californians (about 80% of those surveyed) believe government and schools need to pitch in to fight childhood obesity and that preventive health programs pay for themselves in reduced health care costs to the state.
That tied in nicely with the intent of the hearing, which was convened by the two legislative health committees to look at ways to focus health policy toward prevention of chronic conditions such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
“When we look at the fact that individual [health] behavior and people’s environment contribute to about 70% of our health care costs, it should really be addressed,” according to Larry Cohen, founder and executive director of the Prevention Institute and a panelist at the hearing. “But our health care investment is only about 4% in prevention.”
Personal Stories Highlight Oral Chemotherapy Bill
New legislation proposed by Assembly member Henry Perea (D-Fresno) would require health plans to provide chemotherapy in pill form, in some cases.
“This bill will provide greater access for oral chemotherapy treatment,” Perea said on the Assembly floor late last week. “This is the right thing to do, to allow people access to lifesaving drugs.”
Perea introduced the measure with his personal account of caring for his mother, who he said was diagnosed with stage 2 lung cancer just over a year ago. During the long, eight-hour chemo infusion in the hospital, he learned quite a lot about cancer and chemo from patients and professionals.