Latest California Healthline Stories
Senate Report Examines Goals for Alzheimer’s Care
The Senate Office of Research released a report focusing on the “impending public health crisis” of Alzheimer’s disease in California.
Less Hidden Information by Exchange Under New Bill
A Senate committee this week approved legislation to increase transparency at Covered California, the state’s health benefit exchange.
Bill Would Exempt Some Skilled Nursing Facilities From Cut
The effort to reverse a Medi-Cal reimbursement rate cut still is moving forward as an urgency measure, even though the Legislature already passed a budget.
First MCO Tax, Next Comes Rate-Setting
State officials reached an agreement on reinstating the managed care organization tax in part by addressing several of the desires of the institutions being taxed.
Floor Vote Coming for ‘De-linking’ Plan
A legislative committee yesterday questioned a proposal to “de-link” some provisions of the Coordinated Care Initiative and to expand the role of the Department of Finance in the state’s plans for covering Californians eligible for Medicare and Medi-Cal.
Plan for Autism Medi-Cal Benefit Rejected
State officials eliminated a plan to cover applied behavioral analysis — known as ABA therapy — as an essential health benefit for autistic children in Medi-Cal.
Bill Would Extend Private Plan Requirement To Cover Autism Therapy
An Assembly committee this week approved a bill to extend a requirement that private health insurers include a form of autism therapy in their California benefit plans.
Yamada Takes a Lonely Stand on ADHC Bill
A proposed bill to protect adult day health services was opposed by the people it was designed to benefit, and the author refused any amendments. Predictably, lawmakers rejected the bill.
Committee Finally Moves Health Reform Bills
The Assembly Committee on Health yesterday approved passage of two bills that made up the bulk of policy decisions in the legislative special session on health care.
Yesterday’s committee approval came the day after the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown hammered out a budget agreement. Some details of that pact have not been officially announced, including a provision for coverage of autism services. Autism coverage is implicitly contained — but could still be dropped — from one of the bills passed by the committee yesterday.
SBX1-1 by Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) would implement optional Medi-Cal expansion, paving the way for 1.4 million Californians earning up to 138% of federal poverty level to become eligible for the state’s Medicaid program.
Autism Therapy Out of the Budget
Several health care provisions were conspicuously absent from the Legislative Budget Conference Committee’s budget agreement with Gov. Jerry Brown announced yesterday. The plan has no mention of repealing a 10% Medi-Cal provider rate cut nor a plan to fund autism services.
The agreement omitted a proposal to set aside $50 million in general fund money to pay for autism services. When matched with federal dollars, the state would have had $100 million to help pay for autism treatment, including applied behavioral analysis therapy, known as ABA therapy.
Whether ABA therapy will be covered as an essential health benefit starting in 2014 is still up in the air, but yesterday advocates were assuming the worst.