Latest California Healthline Stories
Budget Subcommittee Gets an Earful
Even before the Senate budget subcommittee started yesterday, chair Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) asked the packed chamber for a little indulgence.
“We’re about to have a four-hour hearing on what’s going to be a very difficult subject,” DeSaulnier said.
“So please don’t get cranky with the chair,” he said, “I just want to make sure everyone gets heard.”
Telehealth Network Inches Nearer to Reality
With 25 medical sites plugged into the system and the secure central connection about to be finalized, California is set to begin one of the largest telehealth operations in the nation.
Medical Loss Ratio Threshold Goes to 80%
The Department of Insurance already regulates a 70% medical-loss ratio on insurers of individual health plans so it was not a huge leap to bump that limitation to 80%, given the new federal standard at that level, according to Janice Rocco, deputy commissioner of health policy for the DOI.
“We maintain the [current state requirement of a] 70% medical-loss ratio,” she said, “and we also need to comply with the federal 80% ratio, which is calculated in a different way than the state ratio.”
The state Office of Administrative Law agreed, and yesterday granted the Insurance Commissioner and his department the authority to enforce those federal standards.
And the State of Our Health Reform Is …
Did the State of the Union hold any surprises for health reform? The health care law was more than a bit player in President Obama’s address, but what unfolded on Tuesday night’s national stage paled next to what’s transpiring in Congress this week.
Health Cuts Raising Seniors’ Hackles
It doesn’t sound like much, the meeting of Senate subcommittee #3.
But tomorrow’s subcommittee hearing is the first time the Legislature will be discussing some of the $1.7 billion in proposed Medi-Cal cuts.
That includes elimination of the Adult Day Health Services program, which Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown hopes would save the state $177 million of general fund money. Lydia Missaelides, executive director of the California Association for Adult Day Services, doesn’t believe it.
Small Businesses Eligible for Health Insurance Incentive
Only 43% of small business owners are familiar with a tax credit that could help pay their health insurance costs for employees, according to a national survey released last week by the Small Business Majority (SBM).
“I’m not surprised,” John Arensmeyer of the California chapter of the SBM said. “There has been a lot more heat than light shared on this law, so there’s been a lot of confusion.”
Arensmeyer has worked on a statewide “listening tour” for the past nine months, talking to small business owners about the creation of California’s health benefit exchange and the potential savings from the tax credit.
For-Profit Colleges’ Health Care Training Examined
A new study suggests that for-profit universities produce too few graduates in the most needed health care professions, such as nursing and diagnostic technology, and too many in the support occupations, such as medical assistants and massage therapists.
Mandate Bills Merit Independent Review
Maternity care. Tobacco cessation. Mammograms. HPV vaccinations. Hearing aids for children.
These are just a few of the legislative attempts at mandates for health insurance coverage in California. Each of those proposals needs to be evaluated before it hits committee. The under-the-radar group that does those evaluations — the California Health Benefits Review Program — has issued 68 CHBRP reports since 2004.
The CHBRP held its annual legislative briefing yesterday in Sacramento. And, honestly, it was worth attending just to hear men in suits say the acronym “Cha-BURP” over and over again.
Dental Evaluation Now Part of MRMIB Effort
The Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board has about 875,000 subscribers — so when it evaluates which health plans show the highest quality improvements, that information is important for quite a number of Californians.
This year, it chose six organizations that showed overall superior performance in the quality of care for children in Healthy Families, California’s version of the federal State Children’s Health Insurance Program administered by MRMIB:
Senior Advocates Say Brown’s Budget Cuts Could Backfire
Elderly, low-income Californians dependent on state resources to remain in their homes get more than their fair share of pain from Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget plan, which could end up costing the state more money than it saves, according to senior advocates.