Latest California Healthline Stories
Milestones Mark ARRA, HITECH First Quarter
The arrival of a new national coordinator for health information technology and an invitation to the public to help define the country’s health IT strategy highlighted developments early this year in the federal government’s implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Time is Now To Reverse Hepatitis Trend, Experts Say
For years, advocates have been fighting hepatitis in relative quiet — but that may be changing, according to Rachel McLean.
“Last week the federal [Department of] Health and Human Services released its hepatitis action plan,” McLean said. “For HHS to say we’re going to do something, well, that’s a big deal.”
McLean is the hepatitis prevention coordinator for the state Department of Public Health, and she was part of a panel discussion yesterday in Sacramento. The event was part of the California Health Policy Forum, put on by the Center for Health Improvement and funded in part by the California HealthCare Foundation. CHCF is the publisher of California Healthline.
EHR Cost Savings Could Extend to Health Plans
Health plans don’t directly use electronic health records, but because EHRs could save insurers some money, health plans will want to do everything they can to make the EHR transition smooth, according to Patrick Johnston, president and CEO of the California Association of Health Plans.
Johnston’s organization put together a health care forum yesterday in Burlingame that focused on health plans’ involvement in the EHR movement.
“We as health plans do have a responsibility to address cost drivers in our own business,” Johnston said. “That which plans spend themselves and that which cause our providers to spend. And that’s a complex subject matter.”
Amid Clinic Closures, One Health Care Center Keeps Expanding
State budget shortfalls, declining Medi-Cal reimbursement and recent federal cutbacks have led many community clinics in California to the financial edge. But the Sacramento Native American Health Center has bucked that trend and is expanding at a rapid rate — and it may offer a new model of care to handle the growing patient load in California.
Transition Money Designed To End ADHC
It’s a little complicated, when the governor sets aside $25 million for your program, and it’s a death knell for that program.
But that’s what has happened in the past week with the Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) program. The $25 million allocated by the state is to be used to help with a transition into program elimination.
That was the take-home message at a stakeholder meeting last Friday, and it was not exactly a vote of confidence from the governor’s office.
Why Nursing Homes Want To Waive Goodbye to Reform Law
Should health care workers get adequate health care — or should nursing homes be exempt from the health reform law? Long-term care providers test the boundaries.
May Revise Targets Mental Health, Healthy Families and More
There were several major developments in California’s health policy world yesterday, with the release of Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) May budget revise.
It started with an almost offhand comment from Brown:
“We are eliminating the Department of Mental Health,” Brown said. Then later he added, “We want to eliminate 43 boards and commissions in California.” One of those boards facing elimination is the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board (MRMIB).
Mental health services and health care commissions aren’t the only things on the chopping block. Brown’s May revise also targets Healthy Families, and the state’s plan for adult day health care centers could be changing.
Senior Services Among Possible Budget Targets
Three innocuous-sounding words — the May revise — send shivers down the spines of health care advocates.
That budget adjustment is expected to be announced today (May 16), and Lydia Missaelides, for one, is worried.
“We’re all bracing for more cuts in the May revise,” Missaelides, executive director of the California Association of Adult Day Services, said, adding, “You know, we’re still in this politically sensitive position.”
Riverside Hopes New Policies Will Help Curb Sprawl, Obesity
Riverside County’s Public Health and Planning departments have joined forces to develop a large-scale approach that will guide future community development. The new policies set the stage for communities that will be walkable and bikeable with convenient access to nutritious food.
Basic Health Program: Good or Bad for California?
The California Health Benefit Exchange board met earlier this week to discuss the possibility of setting up a Basic Health Program (BHP) as an alternative to one section of the exchange.
The BHP is an alternative to the exchange’s coverage for two sets of Californians — adults with incomes between 133% and 200% of the federal poverty level, and for legal immigrants with incomes below 133% of the poverty level.
Yesterday, a legislative briefing with a panel of experts was convened in the Capitol building to go over the idea. The briefing was co-sponsored by the Senate Committee on Health and by the California HealthCare Foundation. CHCF publishes California Healthline.