Latest California Healthline Stories
Insurers Flip the Script: Making Sense of Givebacks
Blue Shield of California pledged to cap its income. Aetna requested to cut its premiums in Connecticut. The moves aren’t unprecedented. But will they set a precedent?
U.S. Facing Dramatic Decline in Number of Emergency Departments, According to Study
Renee Hsia of UC-San Francisco, Sandra Schneider of the American College of Emergency Physicians and Caroline Steinberg of the American Hospital Association spoke with California Healthline about a recent study on emergency department closures.
Basic Care, Medical Home, Home Care Act All Clear First Hurdle
A number of health care-related bills just met the deadline for passage out of house of origin. In a way, it’s a litmus test for whether or not bills have the political capital to become law, and quite a few health proposals made the initial cut.
The bills recently passed by the Assembly now head to the state Senate, and vice versa. Beyond the high-profile AB 52 by Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) to regulate health insurance rate hikes, there were several health-related bills that moved on:
Health Reform Legislation Regularly Assailed
Last week’s deadline to get legislation through the Assembly and Senate saw a number of big-ticket health care proposals make their way through the Legislature — including one bill to regulate rate hikes by health insurers, and another to launch a new kind of basic health care insurance program in California.
Many of the health-related proposals — especially ones that had anything to do with meeting federal guidelines for implementation of the federal health reform law in 2014 — met with resistance, skepticism and sometimes derision.
Innovative Dental Idea Goes Outside the Box
A new study gives California a “C” grade for children’s dental care. The level of care could rise with federal health care reform changes in 2014 but only if the state has a plan for handling an anticipated one million newly insured youngsters in need of dental work.
Assembly Sends Health Insurance Regulation Bill on to Senate
Assembly Republicans really didn’t want to hear about AB 52 yesterday.
First there was a motion to block the bill to regulate health insurance rate increases because bill language had been amended the day before. The Assembly voted to reject that objection by waiving the one-day waiting period.
Then Assembly member Curt Hagman (R-Chino Hills) balked at hearing the bill a little earlier in the agenda. “I know we lost the motion to bring this up [in the first place],” he said, “but this is also out of order at this point.”
Should Insurance Companies’ Rates Be Regulated?
To get a picture of how much political heat AB 52 generates, you only have to look at its last committee hearing.
The bill, which would allow California’s Department of Insurance to review and limit the size of health insurers’ rate hikes, is expected to hit the Assembly floor for a vote today.
Last Friday, AB 52, by Assembly member Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) was up for a do-pass in the Assembly Committee on Appropriations. Those affairs are generally quick, without much fanfare — because so many bills go through Appropriations, the actual voting on all of the do-pass bills is rapid-fire.
New ACOs Emerging in Northern California
Two new accountable care organizations are taking shape in San Francisco. Exactly how ACOs work and where they fit in reform are still to be determined, but there is little doubt they will have significant influence on how health care is delivered and paid for.
Health Officials, Public Hospitals at Odds Over Fee
The state says it’s just shifting money around, and that everyone benefits from new federal financing tools known as CPEs — certified public expenditures.
Under the recent federal Medicaid waiver, California can get up to $400 million in federal funds for state-only programs, according to Toby Douglas, director of the California Department of Health Care Services. These are programs licensed or certified by the state providing care and services to a designated population, such as adult day health care or developmental disability care. Public hospitals provide some state-only services, and submit these certified public expenditures, or CPEs, to get federal matching funds.
“But we don’t have enough state-only expenditures, and public hospitals have expenditures beyond what they can get from the waiver,” Douglas said. “We can roll over that money … they get more federal funds, and we get to use their excess certified public expenditures to reach the $400 million mark.
Next Political Battle Brewing on Medicaid Messaging
Democrats have seized on Republicans’ planned reforms to Medicare, using the issue to frame their deficit reduction talks and as a starting point for political campaigns. While the GOP’s Medicaid proposal has drawn less scrutiny, advocates are expected to focus on threats to the program’s funding in the coming weeks.