Latest California Healthline Stories
Senate Health Committee Moves Single-Payer Bill
Many dozens of single-payer supporters crammed the Senate Committee on Health chambers on Wednesday for hearing on a bill that would set up a single-payer health system in California.
The supporters were respectful and emphatic as they all stepped, one by one, up to the microphone to voice their support for such a model. After all of the advocates took their turn and returned to their seats, Senate Health Committee Chair Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) wanted to know if there were any more speakers, so he politely asked if there was anyone else in the audience who was in favor of the bill.
And a sea of hands went up, as nearly everyone in the audience spontaneously and quietly raised their hands.
Intermediate Care Facilities Catch a Break
A U.S. District Court judge this week issued a ruling that temporarily prohibits California from freezing Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for intermediate care facilities that care for residents with developmental disabilities. Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program.
A permanent ruling is expected soon, possibly by the end of the week. However, even the temporary stay is a big victory for developmental services providers and their patients, according to Deborah Pacyna of the California Association of Health Facilities.
“These providers are required to provide quality care 24 hours a day, and yet they’re having to pay out of their own pockets to do that, to the point of possibly closing,” Pacyna said, adding, “They’re paying for patient assessments, staffing, fuel, food, in spite of being faced with this rate freeze, so we hope the judge recognizes this financial hardship.”
More Emphasis Now on Mental Health Care
The California Senate Office of Research released a new policy brief this week that outlines some of the new ways mental health issues will need to be handled in California.
The brief laid out several developments in mental health care:
Obesity, Diabetes Lead Latino Health Agenda
Greg Talavera said he’s never seen anything like it.
Talavera, vice president of clinical affairs at the San Ysidro Health Center in Southern California, was in Sacramento last week for a forum on health risks in the Latino community.
“From a public health perspective, I am alarmed,” Talavera said. “Child obesity is an epidemic. This is the biggest epidemic since the AIDS epidemic.”
Physicians Scarce for Latinos in California
There are two main hurdles to getting quality health care among the Latino population, according to David Hayes-Bautista, founding director of UCLA medical school’s Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.
Access is the No. 1 issue and linguistic competency is No. 2, Hayes-Bautista said.
Hayes-Bautista was part of a forum convened last week in Sacramento by the Latino Community Development Foundation — a forum that included Health and Human Services Secretary Diana Dooley and a number of state Senate and Assembly members.
Joint Ventures on Table for County-Run Plans
A number of county-run health insurance plans, such as the San Francisco Health Plan or the Santa Clara Family Health Plan, could find themselves at a disadvantage when the state’s health benefits exchange goes into operation in 2014.
A new bill, SB 222 by state Sen. Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara), is aimed at addressing the problem before it arises.
“In 2014 people will be required to obtain health insurance,” Alquist said at a Senate health committee hearing this week. “Local health plans and county-run health plans have the potential to provide coverage, but they lack the clear statutory authority to form joint ventures or to initiate joint coverage agreements on a regional basis. This bill provides authority for local health plans to provide health insurance coverage to individuals and groups on a regional basis.”
Clearing a Path Through the Smog
The thumbnail summary of California’s air quality is abysmal. Los Angeles and Bakersfield have the worst air quality in the nation, according to the annual State of the Air report by the American Lung Association. On the county grading scale, 37 of California’s 58 counties get an F in air quality.
“California is unique,” Bonnie Holmes-Gen of the American Lung Association of California said, in explaining why air pollution is so bad in this state.
“Our large population, combined with our sunny days,” help foul the air, she said. “Plus you see a lot of diesel emissions at our ports, and a lot of diesel because of our agriculture. There are geographic elements, where the San Joaquin Valley is like a big bowl that holds the smog. And of course, there has been a large increase in vehicle miles traveled. People do love their cars in California.”
Insurers, Advocates Face Off Over Rate Regulation
Assembly member Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) said the issue boils down to this:
“In the United States, health care costs went up 3.4% last year. At the same time in California, health care premiums went up by as much as 39%,” Feuer said. “Medical costs are going up, no question. But premium costs are going up much more quickly, and that’s the gap we’re trying to bridge here.”
That’s the point of AB 52, heard yesterday in the Assembly Committee on Health. The bill was co-authored by Feuer and Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) to give the state’s insurance commission the power to review premium rate hikes by health insurers, and to limit them if they’re deemed excessive.
Series of Proposals for Community Health Improvement
When it comes to improving the health of a large pool of Californians, small steps can yield big cumulative results. That’s the idea behind a series of proposed laws that are coming before committees in the next two weeks — and part of an overarching plan to get health considerations included in land-use and other policies on the Capitol’s daily agenda, according to Ellen Wu of the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network.
“The state can pass laws and [convene] task forces,” she said, “that can change all of our policies so that they incorporate health.” For instance, she said, when you’re planning some kind of development, make sure multi-lane roads don’t run alongside schools or hospitals.
A few of the bills on tap:
Four Rallies for Children’s Health Across California
Enough is enough, according to Kelly Hardy, director of health policy at Children Now.
First there was the $12 billion in state budget cuts that will hit the Medi-Cal, First Five and Healthy Families programs. More recently, a federal proposal would trim $480 billion nationally from Medicare and Medicaid.
And now state legislators are back at the drawing-and-quartering board, mulling an all-cuts budget that could slash another $15.4 billion.