Latest California Healthline Stories
Why One Pioneer ACO Quit the Program — and What It Reveals About the ACA
Ten of Medicare’s 32 Pioneer ACOs now have dropped out of the high-profile program, after San Diego’s Sharp HealthCare informed CMS that it would be leaving the two-year-old pilot.
Medi-Cal Application Backlog Will Be ‘Down Significantly’ Within Six Weeks
Toby Douglas, director of the state Department of Health Care Services, answered a range of Medi-Cal questions at an Assembly hearing yesterday, including when the current backlog of a quarter-million eligibility applications will be processed.
Translations Key To Keeping Coverage
Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange, has taken a lot of heat for its communication – or lack thereof – to consumers who don’t speak English well. To its credit, the agency has improved in the past year, especially in its Spanish-language offerings and enrollment-related materials. Unfortunately the news isn’t so great when it […]
Governor Signs Telehealth Streamlining
A number of health care bills became law with the governor’s signature, including a telehealth measure and a ban on smoking in family day care homes.
Confidentiality of Health Information in PHRs and Mobile Health Apps in California
A California law that went into effect this year goes further than HIPAA by holding many different types of organizations — including some developers of personal health records and mobile applications — to confidentiality standards and medical data disclosure rules that traditionally have been reserved for health care entities.
UC-Davis Study Links Autism to Low Iron Intake in Some Mothers
Mothers over age 35 or those with metabolic conditions, such as obesity and hypertension, who had low iron intake during pregnancy and immediately following birth were five times more likely to have a child with autism spectrum disorder, according to a new UC-Davis study.
New Law To Shorten Medi-Cal Application Process for Community Clinic Startups
Primary care clinics that want to take Medi-Cal patients won’t have to wait as long to get started, under a bill just signed by the governor.
Governor Overrules DHCS, Signs Law Creating Children’s Advisory Panel
The Department of Health Care Services may not want it, but the governor has agreed to order the creation of the Medi-Cal Children’s Health Advisory Panel.
San Diego Gearing Up for Targeted Outreach in Second Open Enrollment
In San Diego, the second year of open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act will require a more targeted outreach strategy to reach those who failed to obtain health insurance last year, according to stakeholders and experts.
States that were initially hesitant to expand Medicaid eligibility now are exploring alternative coverage plans, but there are implications to increasing coverage without state-to-state parity.