Latest California Healthline Stories
Change And No Change At The Exchange
I’m sure you’ve heard that premiums for plans sold through our health insurance exchange, Covered California, will go up an average of 4.2 percent next year. Just remember, “average” means just that. Your premium increase (or decrease in some cases) will depend on a variety of factors, including where you live and what plan you […]
Sonoma Center Appeals Decertification
Sonoma Developmental Center officials filed a formal appeal with the California Department of Public Health over the state agency’s decertification of the center’s intermediate care facilities.
Health Data Sharing Becoming More Attainable but Also More Complex
Is the health care industry ready for a data-sharing revolution? Information technology experts say that while there’s been a paradigm shift in how health data are stored, used and shared, there are still many challenges ahead.
Public Health Information Portal Opens
The state Department of Public Health launched a new online data portal last week so that other public agencies and private innovators can create and design new applications for public use.
Legislature May Require Insurers To Track Patient Cost-Sharing
Health insurers often require patients to monitor their own out-of-pocket expenses. A bill in the state Legislature proposes to move that responsibility to insurers.
Loma Linda University Health Plans $1.2B Inland Empire Expansion
Loma Linda University Health officials expect a proposed $1.2 billion expansion to position the health system as one of the leading health care providers in the Inland Empire region. Unaffiliated health care analysts agree.
Advocates, State Officials Wrangle Over California’s Medi-Cal Renewal Backlog
Consumer advocates are asking for federal intervention to help with California’s unprocessed Medi-Cal applications. The state hopes to have the backlog reduced to about 350,000 by the end of the month.
Will New Exemptions Fix the Territories’ ACA Problems?
The federal government has granted U.S. territories several exemptions to the Affordable Care Act, but do the changes go far enough to stabilize their insurance markets? And could the changes have unintended consequences stateside?
State: Autism Therapy a Medi-Cal Benefit
State health officials announced yesterday that they plan to cover autism therapy for Medi-Cal children, with possible retroactive coverage and full implementation likely by the start of 2015.
Amputation Rate 10 Times Higher for Poor Patients, UCLA Study Finds
UCLA researchers say low-income individuals with diabetes in California are at much greater risk to have limbs amputated than wealthier people with same disease.