Latest California Healthline Stories
New Program Brings Health Care Stakeholders Together To Curb Hospital-Acquired Infections
Gene Grigsby of the National Health Foundation, Leslie Margolin of Anthem Blue Cross, Jon Rosenberg of DPH and the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California’s Mary Lopez and Scott Seamons shared their thoughts on the new initiative.
Shift in Medicare Pay Policies Could Hit Safety Net Facilities
Researchers are raising concerns that efforts to cut Medicare reimbursement rates for preventable hospital readmissions could underscore disparities between facilities that cater to vulnerable populations and hospitals with patient bases that are higher up on the economic ladder.
‘Meaningful Use’ Rules Cap Year-End Health IT Activity
“Meaningful use” rules released just under deadline may have been the most anticipated health IT development of year’s end, but it wasn’t the only one. The federal government continues to move ahead with various programs spelled out in the federal stimulus package.
Reform Debate Drives Question of Minimum Benefits
Cost has played a central role in the debate over health care reform, but much less has been made of fundamental questions over what level of benefits should be available. Is it better to provide a more generous benefits package, even if it means more people will be left without coverage?
Stakeholders Line Up Against Health Cuts in Governor’s Budget Plan
Gov. Schwarzenegger’s fiscal year 2010-2011 budget proposal calls for cuts to health care and social services and raises the prospect of even deeper cuts if the federal government doesn’t provide more money to the state.
Health Advocates, Legislators See Little To Like in Governor’s Proposed Health Program Cuts
Carla Kakutani of the California Academy of Family Physicians, Wendy Lazarus of the Children’s Partnership, Assembly member Jim Nielsen and Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg discussed the governor’s plan.
Negotiators Prepare To Determine Details of Individual Mandate
Democratic leaders in the Senate and House included provisions in their health care reform bills that would require most Americans to buy coverage, an idea that Gov. Schwarzenegger had endorsed in his own health care overhaul plan. Will he stump for the individual mandate in a national plan?
New Jobs Training Effort Could Strengthen California’s Allied Health Care Work Force
Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University’s Center for Health Policy and Cathy Martin of the California Hospital Association spoke with California Healthline about the possible impact of health care worker training programs.
California Health IT Sphere in Flux in Wake of CalRHIO Shake-Up
CalRHIO, one of the country’s first organizations designed to oversee the exchange of digital health information, has entered a state of limbo after failing to win designation as California’s lead health IT agency.
Immigration Provisions Loom Over Efforts To Merge Reform Bills
Senate and House leaders are gearing up to work through differences in their respective health care reform bills. What they decide on provisions dealing with immigrants’ access to health insurance exchanges will have major implications for California and other states with large immigrant populations.