Latest California Healthline Stories
Bills Offer Two Approaches to Hospital Observation Status
We asked stakeholders to assess the strengths and weaknesses of two bills in the California Legislature seeking to clarify the complex and financially significant issue of “observation status” in acute care hospitals.
Why Haven’t More States Expanded Medicaid Yet?
It’s been two years since the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act and put the fate of its Medicaid expansion in question. Many experts predicted that all states would eventually embrace the expansion, yet 22 states remain staunchly opposed. What gives?
Panel OKs Optometry Scope of Practice Bill
Legislation to help ease the crunch on primary care by expanding the scope of practice for California optometrists moved forward in the Legislature yesterday.
Bill Sidesteps Governor, Accepts Grant
A new strategy is taking shape in the California Legislature to sidestep Gov. Brown’s rejection of a Medi-Cal grant offer from the California Endowment.
Electronic Backpack for Foster Kids Launched in Ventura County
A pilot project using information technology and the Internet to coordinate social workers and health care providers working with foster children launched last week in Ventura County. The private-public partnership aims to be a model for other parts of California and the nation.
Advocates Want Duals Pilot Project Slowed
The National Senior Citizens Law Center is asking state and federal officials to slow down and fix problems in the pilot project to coordinate care for Californians eligible for Medicare and Medi-Cal.
Bill To Extend Adult Day Program OK’d
California’s adult day health care program has ridden a rollercoaster of elimination, rebirth, funding reductions and legislative battles. A bill to extend the program appears to be on a track as smooth as glass.
California May Be Pushed To Offer Autism Treatment as Medi-Cal Benefit
Autism advocates contend CMS approval of autism therapy as a Medicaid benefit in two states means California and all other states are required to offer the same benefit.
Health Care Battles Focus on What’s Left Out of Budget, Not What’s in It
California’s fiscal year 2014-2015 budget includes small steps toward restoring large health care cuts made during the recession, but most of the big-ticket items are still on the shelf, stirring anger among advocates and legislators.
More Health Plans Ask To Join Obamacare. Surprise: They’re Run By Hospitals
In the latest sign of the industry’s changing dynamics, about a half-dozen insurance plans asking to join the Affordable Care Act’s health exchanges this fall are owned by hospitals.