Latest California Healthline Stories
Lots To Do With Less Than Two Years To Go
It is an eventful month for the California Health Benefit Exchange board.
Tomorrow, it releases its final solicitation for technology to help run the exchange. Proposals are due at the end of this month for the communication, outreach, assisters and health plan management components of the exchange.
Meanwhile, Executive Director Peter Lee said at yesterday’s board meeting, the exchange has continued to hire new personnel and is now negotiating for office space to lease in Sacramento to accommodate all of those new hires.
Newly Enacted State Legislation Looks Toward Implementation of Federal Health Reform Law
John Arensmeyer of Small Business Majority, Diana Dooley of California’s Health and Human Services Agency and Anthony Wright of Health Access spoke with California Healthline about California’s efforts to prepare the state for changes under the federal health reform law.
It May Be Time ‘To Take the Pain’ on Medicaid
New Kaiser Family Foundation data illustrate the rise in Medicaid enrollment and lawmakers’ continuing struggle to control costs. Budget battles in Washington state, not Washington, D.C., may show the future of the program: stark efforts to slow utilization.
State Moving Toward Licensing Home Health Workers
Two bills have been proposed to regulate an estimated one million unlicensed home health workers in California. The big questions are, how much regulation is needed, and how much that type of program will cost. One of the bills, AB 899 by Mariko Yamada (D-Davis), has looser requirements and is currently stuck in the Assembly appropriations committee.
The one more likely to make it to the floor is SB 411 by Curren Price (D-Inglewood), which would require background checks and care instruction for all home health care workers. It is expected to be taken up for a floor vote as soon as the end of January.
SB 411 is the one up for debate and possible amendment, according to Jordan Lindsey, director of policy and public affairs for CAHSAH, the California Association for Health Services at Home.
Fresno County Projects Address Teen Drug Abuse
Teenage prescription drug abuse, considered a serious problem statewide, is the focus of Fresno County projects aimed at helping parents lock up, clean out and safely drop off unused narcotics.
‘Road Map’ Lays Out Details for Building Exchange
The Children’s Partnership “blueprint for reform” released this week marks an important milestone in the formation of California’s Health Benefit Exchange, according to Kristen Golden Testa, health director of the Children’s Partnership.
“The [Health Benefit] Exchange board did a lot of work on the visioning process, figuring out what they wanted the exchange to be like,” Golden Testa said. “This offers a road map to get to a lot of the visioning pieces.”
The report was released in draft form to the exchange board in December, and some of the detail laid out in the report may have helped board staff develop that RFP, Golden Testa said.
Medical Transport Lawsuit Gets Federal Injunction
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday to halt a 10% Medi-Cal provider reimbursement cut to medical transportation services.
It was the third time the state has lost in court on this issue. State officials said the state will appeal. Preliminary injunction rulings at the end of December halted cuts in hospital and pharmacy services. Another lawsuit, brought by the California Medical Association and other providers, is still pending.
Marat Sheynkman, executive director of the California Medical Transportation Association, which filed the suit that triggered Wednesday’s ruling, said the 10% Medi-Cal reimbursement cut would have hit medical transport providers particularly hard.
What’s Best Enrollment Process for Dual Eligibles?
State officials face a key decision in orchestrating a shift into managed care for more than one million Californians who are beneficiaries of both Medicare and Medi-Cal: How to enroll people in the new plans. We asked stakeholders and experts to discuss pros and cons of various enrollment options.
Controversy Surfaces Over Ombudsman Plan
Legislative committees started back up with a bang yesterday, when a seemingly benign measure to beef up the state’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program was almost scuttled by its director.
Yesterday, during the first meeting in months of the Senate Committee on Human Services, Senate member Lois Wolk (D-Davis) introduced SB 345, which is designed to increase the advocacy power of the long-term care ombudsman’s office.
“The idea is to strengthen the ability to advocate residents’ rights,” Wolk said. “There is warranted concern that the ombudsman’s office has not been adequately representing residents. The ultimate goal is that the ombudsman’s office will aggressively pursue advocacy for the residents of long-term care facilities.”
Four Resolutions We Hope Lawmakers Will Keep This Year
The Republicans have promised a replacement for the health reform law. The Democrats had planned a payment advisory panel. Both parties want a “doc fix.” Will this be the year lawmakers stick to their promises?