Latest California Healthline Stories
New Leader, New Plan, New EHR Initiative for Cal eConnect
The success of California’s health information exchange depends in part on the coordination and guidance of Cal eConnect and its energetic new CEO, Laura Landry. She said California is “on the verge of a breakthrough” in health information exchange.
Essential Health Benefit Bill Clears Committee
Bill Monning, chair of the Assembly Committee on Health, knew the moment was a big one.
“We are serving as policymakers in extraordinary times,” Monning (D-Carmel) said yesterday at the health committee hearing. “For up to 5 million Californians, we have the opportunity before us to set essential health benefits.”
Monning introduced AB 1453, which laid out a plan for what essential benefits will be covered in California under the Affordable Care Act. The proposed set of benefits is modeled on the Kaiser small group HMO plan.
Misuse of Prescription Painkillers Becoming More Widespread Among Young Californians
Tom Lenox of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Michael Plopper of Sharp HealthCare Behavioral Health Services, Sherrie Rubin of the not-for-profit organization HOPE and Robert Wailes of the California Medical Association’s board of trustees spoke with California Healthline about prescription drug misuse.
The Department of Health Care Services may need an abacus to keep track of all of the lawsuits being levied against it.
A ruling is expected as early as today in a lawsuit brought against DHCS by the California Primary Care Association and several other providers.
The CPCA hopes a federal judge will grant a temporary restraining order to halt a lower reimbursement rate for adult day health services in the recently launched Community Based Adult Services program.
Health IT: The Common Ground in Health Care Reform?
Arguments inside and outside the Supreme Court building last month reaffirmed the nation’s sharp divide over the federal health reform law. But one aspect of the law is likely to continue drawing support from both sides of the aisle: health information technology.
Medi-Cal Cuts Face Another Preliminary Injunction
The Department of Health Care Services has been on the losing end so far of four court cases over the 10% cut in Medi-Cal provider rates. In each of the four cases, preliminary injunctions were granted to halt the cuts from specific provider groups, such as emergency transport, hospitals, pharmacies, physicians and dentists.
Now it’s adult day service providers’ turn for a judicial ruling.
A decision is expected today from federal judge Christina Snyder on a request for another preliminary injunction. This one is from adult day health providers who worked under the Adult Day Health Care program before it was terminated and replaced by the Community Based Adult Services program, or CBAS.
Should California Reconsider Health Care Districts?
With the Affordable Care Act poised to dramatically change the state’s health care system, should California be reconsidering special health care districts that generate and consume millions of dollars every year? We asked experts to weigh in.
Food Distribution Inequity a Target of Talks
Paula Daniels is the senior advisor on food policy in Los Angeles County, but a lot of people don’t really understand what she’s working on.
“People don’t always get it,” Daniels said. “There’s an enormous amount of policy that’s related to the food system. When you think about the whole system, the kind of food, how it’s grown, how you get it, where it’s distributed, there’s regulatory policy, there’s economic policy. And from an environmental justice point of view, it cuts across every line.”
Daniels spoke yesterday in Los Angeles at an event called “An Appetite for Equity: Ensuring Access to Healthy Foods.” It’s the first of three meetings across the state sponsored by the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network. The next event is Apr. 11 in Fresno; the final one is Apr. 19 in Oakland.
State Names Four Counties for Duals Project
California took a big step yesterday, officially unveiling the four counties that will kick off the three-year project to eventually shift 1.1 million dual eligibles — Californians eligible for both Medi-Cal and Medicare — to a Medi-Cal managed care program.
The first four participants in the Coordinated Care Initiative are Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and San Mateo counties. The Department of Health Care Services currently has authority to start the program in those counties, but legislation is pending in Sacramento that would expand authority for the number of participating counties — up to 10 of them by 2013.
The trailer bill language for that legislation has been finalized. The trailer bill is expected to be included in the budget package in June, DHCS officials said.
Where Would Consumers, Insurers Land if ACA Is Struck Down?
If the Supreme Court strikes down part or all of the Affordable Care Act, what might it mean for consumers who support the changes promised in reform? And what might it mean for insurers who were promised millions of new customers?