Latest California Healthline Stories
State Officials Meet CMS Deadline for Explanation of Huge Medi-Cal Backlog
Roughly 600,000 applications for Medi-Cal have yet to be processed, and federal officials want to know why. State officials said they responded to CMS in writing but have not yet made the response public.
Judge Delays Duals Injunction Decision
Advocates and state officials will need to wait another two weeks for a Superior Court decision on whether or not a judge will temporarily halt the state’s duals demonstration project.
Calif. Latino Webinar Series Goes National
A series of Spanish language webinars designed to inform and engage Latino businesses in California is going national this month with a broader, less state-specific message about health insurance opportunities for small businesses through the Affordable Care Act.
Landmark Healthy San Francisco Remains Safety Net During Transition Period
San Franciscans unable to afford health coverage through Covered California can continue to receive care through the city’s universal health plan until 2015, while city officials work to create a subsidy program to satisfy federal mandates.
Developmental Center Task Force Reprised
After a task force’s success in devising a plan to re-do development centers, state officials are calling on the same task force to reform and work on a stronger community-based care system.
Steps Forward Are a Decent Start for Mental Health Spending, Experts Say
California’s spending this year on some mental health programs brings it closer to funding levels set by the decade-old Mental Health Services Act. Still, lawmakers at a recent hearing voiced concern about heightened need for services in the state.
Lawsuits. Surprise Bills. Are ‘Narrow Networks’ a Speed Bump, or a Scandal?
Complaints about the “narrow networks” in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges have taken a sharp turn, with regulators launching investigations and patients filing lawsuits. Are these simply rollout-related challenges, or are deeper problems to blame?
Can Raising the State’s Minimum Wage Improve Public Health?
Rajiv Bhatia of the UC-Berkeley School of Public Health, Gerald Kominski of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, Sen. Mark Leno, Mike Schommer of the Minnesota Department of Health and medical student Lea Selitsky spoke with California Healthline about the legislative efforts to raise the minimum wage and research into the possible public health effects from that.
First Volleys Lobbed in Expected Long Debate on Rate Regulation in Prop. 45
A joint legislative hearing tackled a controversial initiative on the November ballot — Proposition 45, the measure that would regulate health insurance rate increases.
CMS Guidance Says Autism Therapy Covered as Medicaid Benefit for Kids
Long-sought federal guidance has finally been issued on coverage of autism therapy as a Medicaid benefit — and advocacy groups say it’s good news for children on Medi-Cal in California.