Latest California Healthline Stories
Surprisingly Contentious Passage of SB 36
A bill passed this week by the Assembly Committee on Health would help California counties tap federal money to recoup some of the costs associated with providing health care for low-income children.
SB 36 by Sen. Joseph Simitian (D-Santa Clara), already approved by the Senate, started the Assembly process in front of the health committee.
“This measure authorizes or allows,” Simitian said, carefully enunciating this part, “it does not require — does not require, only allows or authorizes — counties to receive additional funding when treating poor children.”
Health Committee Alters BPA Ban Bill
The bill seemed simple enough — trying to keep endocrine disruptors out of babies’ mouths. But arguments get complicated in Sacramento, and yesterday the Senate Committee on Health decided that only a lighter version of that argument made sense.
On a 5-3 vote, the committee approved AB 1319 by Betsy Butler (D-Marina del Rey), but only after the author agreed to amendments that significantly altered the bill.
It now moves to the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality.
California Running Out of Health Care Providers
Study after study on work force issues in California all come to the same conclusion: There are not enough doctors, nurses and allied health providers to meet projected need. On top of that, those providers are not distributed evenly across the state. But what can be done about it?
Senate Vote Could Be Swayed by AMA Stance
On Monday, the American Medical Association came out against use of bisphenol-A (BPA) in consumer products, citing the chemical’s effect as an endocrine disruptor. That specifically includes endorsement of a ban on use of BPA in baby bottles and baby “sippy” cups, and that ban is at issue in today’s Senate Committee on Health.
AB 1319 (Betsy Butler, D-Marina del Rey) would limit BPA use in baby bottles and cups, infant formula and baby food sold in California. It passed the Assembly at the end of May, and now is up for a vote in today’s Senate health committee hearing.
“The AMA has found that BPA is an endocrine disruptor and it would like to ban products that contain it,” Butler said. “It’s all about the science. There are many medical and health organizations promoting this idea [of banning BPA in baby products]. The opposition to BPA has grown stronger and stronger from the health community.”
Accounting for the ACO Backlash by Recounting DRG Fight
All kinds of health care stakeholders seem to agree: CMS’ proposed ACOs are profoundly disagreeable. But is this criticism truly new or just providers’ traditional resistance to federal efforts to overhaul health care payment?
Insurers, Physicians at Odds Over Paper Trail
For Juan Thomas of the California Medical Association, it’s a no-brainer.
“Right now, the way preauthorization forms are, there are so many types of preauthorization forms, with different ones from different health plans and health insurers. They all want different types of information,” Thomas said. “And if the physician doesn’t have the correct form for the correct insurer, they have to hunt it down. Physicians spend a lot of time on this issue, and that’s time away from patients.”
Senate member Ed Hernandez (D-Los Angeles) addressed the issue in SB 866, which successfully made its way through the Senate and is up for a vote before the Assembly Committee on Health today. It would require insurers to adopt a standard form, and it would give them a deadline of two business days to respond to medication authorization requests.
Grant Moved Up To Get IT Dollars
Kim Belshé’s committee-of-one turned out to be extremely efficient.
It is a daunting task, applying for a federal establishment grant for the California Health Benefit Exchange — it lays out the direction and scope of the entire exchange, so the board’s plan was to complete it in September. That was complicated slightly by the fact that Belshé was the only board member on the committee supervising the grant application.
It became clear, however, that some of the work needed to get started — particularly the health information technology work — which means it needs federal cash sooner rather than later. So the exchange board announced at last week’s meeting that it is applying for the grant now, with final approval of that grant being sought at next month’s board meeting.
Should State Regulate Health Insurance Premiums?
What will it mean for Californians if the Legislature passes and the governor signs a bill giving state government the authority to reject health insurance premium increases it deems unjustified?
Single-Payer Hopefuls Press Their Cause
Only in San Francisco can a guy wearing a rainbow rasta wig be a voice of reason.
But there he was, among an estimated 400 boisterous protesters, trying to keep the sidewalk clear so pedestrians could pass through the colorful event. Event organizer Don Bechler also was busy keeping the gathering legal and peaceful.
“America deserves a health care system that’s not broken,” said Bechler, chair of California-based Single Payer Now. “We want to get rid of the insurance companies and their bureaucracy of denial. It’s crazy that doctors need to spend so much time dealing with insurance companies — that’s madness to deal with that kind of bureaucracy.”
Budget Backs Off More Health Care Cuts
From a health care point of view, yesterday’s passage of the budget was notable for what was missing from it:
- Transition was delayed for moving 870,000 kids from Healthy Families into a Medi-Cal managed care program;
- Elimination of the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board also is on hold for now;
- In a plan that includes an additional $10 billion in budget corrections, there were no new cuts to health-related programs.