Latest California Healthline Stories
New Law Aimed at Many Parents Opting Out of State’s Vaccination Program
Mark Dressner of the California Academy of Family Physicians, Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center and Assembly member Richard Pan spoke with California Healthline about the growing number of parents who are choosing to keep their children out of the state’s vaccination program and the new law in California that requires a provider consultation to opt out.
Three of the Most Over-Hyped Health Care Reform Stories of 2013
This edition of “Road to Reform” explores three Affordable Care Act news stories that got more attention than they deserved in 2013, including the debate over the fairness of delaying the employer mandate but not the individual mandate.
Physician Group in Favor of Provisions Dropped From New California Law
A California law passed last session to crack down on prescription drug misuse had one requirement pulled from the bill, and now a national physician group is calling for renewed commitment to that requirement.
Forum Examines Price Transparency
The possibility of legislation to align hospital prices in California was mentioned during a forum in Sacramento yesterday that examined price transparency in health care.
What Would Success Look Like for Exchange’s Small Business Program?
State health officials have started a new push to get small-business owners to seek health coverage through Covered California — a very different kind of program than the individual-market effort.
Medicare Briefing Examines Hospital Trend To Observe Rather Than Admit
A concern that hospitals might be delaying admission of Medicare patients got national attention in a televised Washington, D.C., briefing last week.
Forum Explores Other States’ Handling of Exchange, Medicaid Enrollment
Enrollment in California’s exchange and Medi-Cal expansion has gone well compared with some parts of the country, but California isn’t the only state with a successful exchange. Officials from other states told their stories yesterday in an online forum.
Majority of Uninsured Plan To Get Coverage by 2014, New Poll Suggests
A new poll suggests most Californians know about Covered California, the state’s new health benefit exchange, and a majority of the uninsured say they’re planning to be covered by 2014.
Early data suggest that customers are using the new health insurance exchange to pick plans from large, familiar companies like Anthem and Kaiser, even if plans from smaller companies are comparable in price.
How To Get California Kids Physically Fit
We asked stakeholders and policymakers how the state could improve the physical fitness of California’s school children. Only one-third of fifth, seventh and ninth graders passed all six sections of the state’s annual physical fitness test last year.