Latest California Healthline Stories
Medicare’s Old Age Problem Is New Again
Is 67 the new 65? Republicans have again proposed hiking Medicare’s eligibility age as a gambit to extend program solvency. Some have championed the plan, but many policy analysts — and much of the public — are resisting the idea.
John Goldstein of Imprint Capital Discusses How Foundations Can Invest in Their Mission
John Goldstein, co-founder and managing director of Imprint Capital, spoke with California Healthline about how health foundations and other philanthropic institutions can leverage innovative investment strategies to advance their mission.
Series of Proposals for Community Health Improvement
When it comes to improving the health of a large pool of Californians, small steps can yield big cumulative results. That’s the idea behind a series of proposed laws that are coming before committees in the next two weeks — and part of an overarching plan to get health considerations included in land-use and other policies on the Capitol’s daily agenda, according to Ellen Wu of the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network.
“The state can pass laws and [convene] task forces,” she said, “that can change all of our policies so that they incorporate health.” For instance, she said, when you’re planning some kind of development, make sure multi-lane roads don’t run alongside schools or hospitals.
A few of the bills on tap:
Four Rallies for Children’s Health Across California
Enough is enough, according to Kelly Hardy, director of health policy at Children Now.
First there was the $12 billion in state budget cuts that will hit the Medi-Cal, First Five and Healthy Families programs. More recently, a federal proposal would trim $480 billion nationally from Medicare and Medicaid.
And now state legislators are back at the drawing-and-quartering board, mulling an all-cuts budget that could slash another $15.4 billion.
Aged, Blind, Disabled Moving Into Managed Medi-Cal
Blind, disabled and aged Californians receiving subsidized health coverage begin shifting soon into mandatory managed Medi-Cal programs as part of the Medicaid waiver negotiated last year between California and CMS.
Dealing With a Taboo Problem in Asian Community
Asian American girls have the highest rates of depressive symptoms of any racial/ethnic or gender group, according to a study released last month by the National Alliance for Mental Illness. Asian Americans are at a high risk for many other mental health issues — including higher rates of suicide deaths among young women and older women in the Asian community.
California has the largest Asian American population in the nation, by far. A conference is being convened today in Los Angeles to address the issue.
“The quality of mental health care provided to ethnic minority groups is inadequate,” conference keynote speaker Stanley Sue said. “There is a paucity of research, especially rigorous research such as clinical trials, on treatment outcomes for ethnic minority groups.”
Wireless Medicine’s Promise: Less Cost, Better Care
Starting at the cellular level, wireless devices could change the practice of medicine. But like any transformative technology, risks accompany the vast promise of mobile health. That was one take-home message from a national conference of health care journalists last week in Philadelphia.
Dooley Named Interim Chair of Exchange Board
About 150 people crammed an auditorium in Sacramento to be part of history: The California Health Benefits Exchange board met for the first time — the initial big step toward implementing the first reform-prompted insurance exchange in the nation.
“If we succeed, we will set the health care reform agenda for the rest of the nation,” board member Susan Kennedy said. “If we fail, we will precipitate the downfall of it nationally. And we are fully committed to seeing it succeed.”
The first day of the board was a busy one.
Authorization Delays Targeted by Senate Bill
The Senate Committee on Health approved a bill last week that would cap administrative delay at 48 hours for prescription authorization.
The reasoning is simple behind SB 866 by Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), according to Liz Helms, chair of the California Chronic Care Coalition.
“In representing more than 16 million people with chronic conditions in California, you can imagine how many medications that these people are taking,” Helms said, “and what a barrage of prior authorizations that face them when they’re trying to get their medication in a timely manner.”
Insurance Agents Try To Broker Deal on MLR
Few stakeholders have been as quickly affected by the health reform law as insurance brokers — and few have pushed back against the law as speedily. Brokers’ battle to change medical-loss ratio rules is a microcosm of the broader fight to shape the overhaul’s implementation.