Latest California Healthline Stories
Trigger Cuts Not the Only Worry for Disabled
Yesterday’s announcement of $1 billion in trigger cuts for California’s budget includes two provisions that hit the developmentally disabled community.
One of those provisions, to scale back In-Home Supportive Services by 20%, is already in court. A federal judge last week issued a temporary restraining order to halt implementation of that cut, pending a hearing scheduled for tomorrow.
The other big budget reduction for the disabled — a $100 million cut to the Department of Developmental Services — is going to be much more difficult to fight in court, according to Tony Anderson, executive director of The Arc of California, which advocates for the developmentally disabled.
Assembly Hearing Laments a Torn Safety Net
It’s not just the 10% payment cut to a range of Medi-Cal services in California that have legislators and providers lining up in protest, according to Assembly member Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), it’s the combined effect of all the cuts that came before as well.
“We are here to hear and understand the actual impact of the cuts we made this year,” Mitchell said yesterday at a hearing convened by Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services. “And we also need to hear the cumulative impacts of cuts from previous years,” she said. “This economic crisis has hit our children very hard, and we need to hear what these cuts will do to those children.”
Down the street from the Capitol Building hearing, protesters representing the developmentally disabled gathered outside the offices of the Department of Health Care Services, the agency implementing the state’s cuts and that worked with CMS to get federal approval of the cutbacks.
Legislative Hearing Frames Looming Impact of Federal Cuts
Edwin Park was not exactly a ray of sunshine.
The policy expert from Washington, D.C., testified recently at an Assembly budget subcommittee hearing in Sacramento on the effects of impending federal budget cuts to California.
“The major Medicaid proposals [being considered] would substantially shift cost to the states,” Park said. “Some Medicare savings would also shift cost to the states. And states like California will have to compensate for these cuts.”
Health Reform, LGBT, Telehealth Bills Signed
More than two dozen bills directly related to health care were signed into law over the weekend by Gov. Jerry Brown (D).
Despite some initial opposition from the Health Benefit Exchange board, the governor signed AB 1296 by Susan Bonilla (D-Martinez), a measure that creates the Health Care Reform Eligibility, Enrollment and Retention Planning Act. It requires state Health and Human Services officials to set up standardized forms and procedures to apply for or renew eligibility and enrollment in state subsidy programs.
It’s part of the no-wrong-door approach to streamline enrollment in Medi-Cal, the Health Benefit Exchange and other state assistance programs.
Reimbursement for Emergency Transport Becomes Law
It’s been a busy week for Gov. Jerry Brown (D), and it will get busier. Brown has until midnight Sunday to approve or reject the stack of bills sent to him by the Legislature.
Since the end of last week, Brown has signed 104 bills into law and rejected 10. Among the approvals were a number of health-related measures:
UC-Riverside, UC-Merced Turn to New Models for Med Schools
In response to state budget cuts and emerging trends in medical education, UC-Riverside and UC-Merced are seeking new ways to fund their medical school programs and train students. Both universities are developing new partnerships and new teaching models to circumvent the daunting economic climate.
Legislature Passes Healthy Families Money, Mulls DMHC Move
Among the raft of bills that floated through the Legislature in the final days of session were two big health-related ones:
• The Assembly, after trying and failing by one vote to pass ABX1 21 by Bob Blumenfield (D-Woodland Hills), yesterday took up the measure again and this time passed it, 61-9; and
• An Assembly bill, AB 922 by Bill Monning (D-Carmel), is designed to expand and move the Office of the Patient Advocate. It took on an amendment that also moves its parent agency, the Department of Managed Health Care. Those agencies currently reside under the Department of Business, Transportation and Housing.
Rate Regulation, Basic Health Headed to Floor?
The state Legislature reconvenes today, starting with a Senate Committee on Appropriations hearing with 167 items on the agenda. The Assembly’s Appropriations Committee meets Wednesday, with 184 items to consider.
Those numbers will be whittled down for this week’s hearings, but generally Appropriations is the final destination before an actual floor vote for any bill that might spend money. That’s why the two committees will have so many menu items from which to choose.
Among the bills that still need to clear the Appropriations hurdle is AB 52 — by Assembly members Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) and Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) — which is the health insurance rate regulation bill. Also up is the bill to create a Basic Health Program, SB 703, by Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina).
Foundations Provide Helping Hand as States Take Steps To Implement Health Reform Law
Richard Figueroa of the California Endowment, Heather Howard of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, David Maxwell-Jolly of the California Health and Human Services Agency and Marian Mulkey of the California HealthCare Foundation spoke with California Healthline about how foundations are contributing to state health reform activities.
Assembly Committee Approves Basic Health Bill
This week, the Assembly Committee on Health approved a bill to establish low-cost health coverage for as many as 800,000 low-income Californians. For a program that could pull a substantial number of expected participants out of the California Health Benefit Exchange, there has been surprisingly little resistance to it.
That’s because the state stands to save money with the new Basic Health Program, according to SB 703 author Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina).
“With this program, the state can supply more affordable coverage [for low-income beneficiaries] without a dime from the state general fund,” Hernandez said. “And it would reimburse providers at much higher rates than Medi-Cal would pay — about 20% to 25% higher reimbursement rates.”