Latest California Healthline Stories
How to Deal With Remaining Millions Uninsured
Health care experts gathered in Sacramento this week to take on the thorny issue of what to do about the estimated 3.1 million to 4 million Californians who will remain uninsured after five years of implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
The symposium, held on Monday and sponsored by the Insure the Uninsured Project, focused on what to do about the new estimate of uninsured in California.
Last month, the UC-Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research issued a joint report, “After Millions of Californians Gain Health Coverage under the Affordable Care Act, Who Will Remain Uninsured?”
Debating Health Care Effects of Prop. 31
Proponents of Proposition 31, which calls for restructuring state and county political systems, say it would improve California’s health care system. Health care advocates worry it might have the opposite effect.
Premium Reduction Approved for State High-Risk Coverage
Change is coming for the 5,823 current enrollees in California’s Major Risk Medical Insurance Program, and it’s change they’re going to feel in their pockets.
Premium rates are about to go down to match the rates paid in the similar federal program, the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan.
The Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, which oversees the state plan, voted last week to adopt the new premium rate cut that was made possible by a new state law.
What HHS Would Look Like Under President Romney
Paging Bobby Jindal: With Mitt Romney surging in the polls, “Road to Reform” examines what HHS might look like — and who could lead it — under his administration.
Children Going Hungry ‘A Call to Action’
About 125 community leaders gathered in Yolo County last week to launch a new effort to end hunger in that county. The Yolo Food Summit brought together advocates, government workers and other stakeholders to brainstorm answers to the thorny problem of how to make healthy food accessible to people throughout the county.
It’s ironic that Yolo County is primarily an agricultural county and yet more than 17% of its citizens are food insecure. But that’s not the scariest statistic in Yolo County, according to Don Saylor, a Yolo County Supervisor who helped convene the food summit.
“The thing that is quite troubling to me is that 25% of children in Yolo County are food insecure,” Saylor said. “To me, that’s a call to action. When one in four children don’t have access to food in an area where … our economy is based on ag, that’s really troubling. This is a wonderful agricultural community, yet there’s this irony of hunger amidst abundance.”
Commissioner: CO-OPs Important Option for Low-Income Californians
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has high hopes for Consumer Owned and Operated Plans (CO-OPs), a new form of health insurance that will be allowed in the state starting Jan. 1.
The not-for-profit, member-governed plans are designed for individuals and small groups, including small businesses.
“One of the most pressing issues facing Californians is the lack of options for obtaining affordable health coverage,” Jones said. “CO-OPs can serve as one option available to nearly one million low-income individuals and their families.”
State Policy Leaders Steer Clear of Politics at Conference
Three weeks before a national election that could prove pivotal for health care reform, policy leaders and state administrators carefully avoided talking politics during three days of the National Academy for State Health Policy’s annual conference.
San Jose Democrat Working on Bill To Create Oversight for Health Apps
Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose) plans to introduce in the U.S. House of Representatives a bill that calls for a new FDA office specifically designed to regulate health applications on smart phones and other mobile devices.
The new regulatory office in Honda’s bill, expected to be introduced at the beginning of the next session, would oversee apps designed for consumers, as well as those used by health professionals. According to a spokesperson in Honda’s office, there is not enough oversight for apps that consumers use to access health information.
“The office will be located in the FDA Office of the Commissioner, much like many other specialty offices (like the Office of Women, Office of Minority Health) are,” Honda’s spokesperson Michael Shank wrote in an email. The office’s goal would be to streamline regulation of what the FDA defines as health care technology, according to Shank.
Local, National Reforms Both Needed, Policy Leaders Told
BALTIMORE — Although their approaches may appear to be at odds with each other at the onset, a top federal bureaucrat and a national business leader assured health policy leaders Wednesday that government and commercial interests can work together effectively to reform the country’s health care system.
“We’ll figure it out together. We may not figure it out as quickly as people might like, but we will get there,” said Richard Gilfillan, director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.
Gilfillan and Andrew Webber, president and CEO of the National Business Coalition on Health, shared the podium to deliver a tandem farewell address at the National Academy for State Health Policy’s 25th annual conference.
Can UC-Davis Change Pace of Health Information Exchange in California?
Reliable, widespread health information exchange has been elusive in California despite earnest attempts over the past eight years. Now the Institute for Population Health Improvement at UC-Davis is stepping up to the plate as the new cooperative agreement partner charged with bringing HIE to fruition.