California Healthline Staff
Judy Lin, California editor, helps direct KHN’s coverage of California and assists with ethnic media partnerships. Judy was assistant editor at CalMatters, where she directed the award-winning California Divide project, a collaboration among multiple newsrooms focused on poverty and income inequality. She reported on Sacramento policy and politics for more than a decade for The […]
Changes on Horizon for California Safety Net’s Care of Undocumented, Indigent
By Angela Hart
Community clinics and public hospitals in California remain the primary health care option for millions of undocumented immigrants who are ineligible for health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Safety-net facilities’ strategies for remaining solvent are changing under health care reform.
Should Obamacare Be Delayed — And More to the Point, Can It?
By Dan Diamond
Mounting problems with the federal health insurance exchange have sparked widespread concern, and even supporters of the ACA are turning critical. Experts weigh in on whether the individual mandate and other elements of Obamacare should, or even can, be delayed if the problems persist.
Less Hidden Information by Exchange Under New Bill
By Angela Hart
A Senate committee this week approved legislation to increase transparency at Covered California, the state’s health benefit exchange.
Bill Would Extend Private Plan Requirement To Cover Autism Therapy
By Angela Hart
An Assembly committee this week approved a bill to extend a requirement that private health insurers include a form of autism therapy in their California benefit plans.
Experts: ACA May Interrupt Short-Term HIV Care, but Long-Term Changes Worth It
by Angela Hart, California Healthline Contributing Reporter
The Affordable Care Act will bring changes for thousands of Californians with HIV/AIDS, including possible interruptions in care. But the long-term benefits of reform will outweigh short-term hiccups, according to experts.
DHCS Transparency Bill Moves Forward
By Angela Hart
The Senate Committee on Health this week approved a bill that would set new standards of accountability and transparency at the Department of Health Care Services.
AB 209 by Assembly member Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) received unanimous committee approval Wednesday and now heads for a Senate floor vote, the step before it can be sent to the governor’s desk.
The bill wants to hold the department accountable for problems that arise with patients moving to Medi-Cal managed care plans with stronger, measurable benchmarks, Pan said.
Health Insurers Owed $271 Million
By Angela Hart
State officials this week said the Healthy Families program owes $271 million in services already provided by its network of 20 health care insurers and the program needs legislative help to fix the problem.
Healthy Families’ overall shortfall is projected to be $366 million for the year, a deficit caused by expiration of the managed care organization tax in December. Last week, the Senate budget subcommittee on Health and Human Services delayed a vote on the MCO tax.
“The Legislature failed to extend the MCO tax, therefore MRMIB did not have sufficient cash to pay for the Healthy Families program invoices,” said Tony Lee, deputy director for administration at the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, which oversees the Healthy Families program. Lee spoke Wednesday at the monthly MRMIB board meeting.
Grants Set for Rural Information Exchange
by Angela Hart, Contributing Reporter
Federal, state and University of California officials have teamed up to promote health information exchange among rural providers, aiming for smoother and more effective use of electronic health records in California.
Legislature Responds to Critical UC Report
by Angela Hart, Contributing Reporter
State legislators, responding to a critical union report, called on University of California medical center officials to answer questions of capacity, access and quality of care with an onslaught of patients expected under the Affordable Care Act.
