Latest California Healthline Stories
Homegrown Program Addresses Inland Empire Doc Shortage
A training program through UC-Riverside’s School of Medicine hopes to steer local high school and college students onto paths that will lead them to become doctors in the Inland Empire, the region experiencing the worst shortage of primary care physicians in California.
Health for Sale as Retail Clinics Expand in California
The retail clinic sector is experiencing healthy growth in Los Angeles and could grow throughout the state as health care reform comes into play, according to a new study from the RAND Corporation.
Outsourcing May Grow as Health System Evolves
The health care industry, no stranger to outsourcing, may be looking for outside help more often and with a wider lens as the health care delivery system evolves.
Access, Clinic Finances, ED Overuse All Major Concerns for CMA
With health care reform and the state’s cutbacks and reorganization of its health care system, the practice of medicine in California is about to undergo major changes. California Medical Association officials have serious concerns about some of those changes.
“Yes, we are in a budget crunch, and yes, money is tight,” said Doug Brosnan, an emergency department physician and a member of the CMA’s board of trustees. “But there is suffering. Patients are suffering because they lack access to basic services.”
Brosnan was part of a group of CMA officials who met with reporters on Friday in Sacramento to talk about California’s recent spate of budget cuts to health programs and the outlook for reform after the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold most of the Affordable Care Act. CMA officials said they are concerned about the state’s efforts to reorganize existing services — such as the duals demonstration project, or the shift of 873,000 children from the Healthy Families program to Medi-Cal managed care.
Reform Talk Moving From Rhetoric to Bottom Line in Business Community
A new report based on a statewide “listening tour” indicates small business owners in the state are eager to move beyond political and legal wrangling and start figuring out what health reform will mean for the bottom line.
Report: Grim Future for U.S. Docs; Outlook Brighter in California
Many physicians in California have a brighter outlook for the future of practicing medicine than the grim predictions in a national report released last week by The Physicians Foundation.
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.
Residency Program May Help Doctor Shortage in Central Valley
A Visalia hospital will become a teaching institution for medical school graduates, a role that should help address a shortage of physicians in Tulare County. Experts say there are not enough residencies in California to meet the need of graduates seeking family medicine residencies.
Committee Moves Stop-Loss Bill Forward
Stop-loss health insurance is a way for small-business employers to offer a form of health care insurance to employees while limiting risk. The trouble with that, according to Senate member Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles), is that the low risk incurred by stop-loss insurers could mean higher rates for the rest of California.
“Here’s the problem,” De León said this week before the Assembly Committee on Health. “Any increase in stop-loss coverage insurance … could lead to a significant exodus of small employers … especially employers with young employees, leaving behind a smaller-group insurance pool subject to skyrocketing premiums.”
Basically, stop-loss coverage allows insurers to cherry-pick or adversely select the youngest and healthiest consumers with low rates, which makes rates rise for everyone else, De León said.
Bill Would Create Office of Oral Health
Dental providers are united in their intention to address the poor quality of dental care for California children, but are divided about the best way to do that.
Legislators at last week’s Assembly Committee on Health decided to put aside the disagreement and rancor over the best method to deal with the problem and voted unanimously to approve SB 694 by Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima).
The main component of the bill was never questioned in the health committee hearing — that is, to establish a statewide Office of Oral Health and to have a high-level director of that office. According to bill author Padilla, that new office taps no state funds.