Latest California Healthline Stories
Appeal Decisions Due From DHCS
The Department of Health Care Services will issue a decision this week on the first “test case” appeal hearings to decide eligibility for the new Community-Based Adult Services program, according to DHCS officials.
The first appeal hearings were held May 30. After judges submit rulings to the state, the DHCS director has 30 days to decide whether or not the department accepts those rulings.
“We have received under 20 decisions [from judges] so far,” said Norman Williams, deputy director of public affairs for DHCS. “The first one was on or around June 18, and they’ve been on a flow basis since then.”
Important Bills on Horizon for CMA
The California Medical Association, which keeps an eye on all health-related legislation in California, last week released its “Hot List” of proposed health care bills in the next legislative session.
“Given that health care reform continues to be such a big concern, access to care for patients is going to be a big one,” said Molly Weedn, director of media relations for CMA. “And we’re looking at a lot of public health issues this year, like childhood obesity, for instance.”
There are 30 pieces of proposed legislation on this year’s Hot List, including nine bills sponsored by CMA.
How Active Should Exchange Be in Defining Market?
As the California Health Benefit Exchange board refines its design and marching orders, we asked stakeholders how far the exchange should lean in applying its considerable influence on the state’s insurance marketplace.
Similar Procedures, Different Prices at California Hospitals
The cost of many hospital services varies widely across the state — with some facilities charging two or three times as much for a similar procedure, according to a report released yesterday by the California Public Interest Research Group.
Higher cost at one hospital doesn’t necessarily mean higher quality, according to Pedro Morillas, CalPIRG’s legislative director.
“Just because a specific hospital charges an arm and a leg doesn’t mean you’ll get better care there,” Morillas said. “Cost is not a corollary for better quality.”
Rural Clinics Hope DHCS Email Will Turn Tide in Medi-Cal Benefits Lawsuit
The Department of Health Care Services has been accused of withholding information in a court case — information that has the potential to change the reimbursement status of rural health centers and federally qualified health centers in California, according to court documents filed Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit by the California Association of Rural Health Clinics.
Officials from DHCS could not comment on the lawsuit, according to Norman Williams, deputy director of public affairs for DHCS.
“As this matter is in active litigation, DHCS will provide its response to CARHC’s recent motion in an upcoming court filing,” Williams said.
No-Cost Clinic Faces Hard Times, Uncertain Future
Al Shifa Free Clinic near San Bernardino — one of two no-cost clinics in Riverside and San Bernardino counties providing care for uninsured residents — is scraping to make ends meet and exploring ways to survive under health care reform.
Capitol Reacts to Budget, Reform Ruling
Health care issues took center stage in California for the past month — first, when budget pushback focused on health-related programs, and more recently, when the Supreme Court took a stand on legality of the federal health care reform law.
Here’s a taste of what California had to say about it all, culled from interviews, releases and a variety of media outlets:
California Hospitals Take Issue With Leapfrog Group’s Recent Report Card on Patient Safety
Leah Binder of the Leapfrog Group, Jan Emerson-Shea of the California Hospital Association, Ashish Jha of the Harvard School of Public Health and Nancy Pratt of Sharp HealthCare spoke with California Healthline about how California hospitals fared in the Leapfrog Group’s recent report card on patient safety.
The Medicaid Mess: Where Do States Stand on ObamaCare Expansion?
State leaders are wrestling with whether to take part in the Affordable Care Act’s newly voluntary Medicaid expansion. Several policy and political concerns are driving their decisions.
What Food Issues Mean to Health Care
A new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found that 3.8 million Californians in 2009 had times during the year when they could not afford food.
Based on data from the California Health Interview Survey, the new study of showed a marked rise from the 2.5 million Californians with food insecurity eight years before, in 2001. That’s an increase of about half (49%), during a time period where California’s population grew by about 10%.
“The numbers are quite striking,” said UCLA researcher Gail Harrison. “We knew what the trend was going to be, but this was a much more striking increase than I thought there would be.”