Latest California Healthline Stories
Ombudsman Program on Life Support
“This program is going to run out of money this month.” That was the dire warning in a Senate Health Committee hearing Wednesday from Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), author of AB 2555, which would raise $1.6 million to finance California’s ombudsman program for at least one more year.
The program uses volunteers across the state to monitor long-term care facilities, handle patient complaints and advocate for long-term care patients.
“Residents are so dependent on the long-term care ombudsman,” said Jackie McGrath, director of public policy for the California Alzheimer’s Association. “Most are among the frailest of our citizens. Often the long-term ombudsman is their only advocate. We want to find a non-general fund solution for this year, so we can have time to design a long-term solution.”
Bill Aims to Limit Rate Hikes to One a Year
Beth Capell could barely contain her disbelief at the idea — that health plans and insurers suddenly might offer to lower their rates. And that they’d do that twice in one year.
“Not once in a blue moon,” she said.
Capell, policy advocate for Health Access California, was speaking at Wednesday’s Senate Health Committee hearing, presenting her side of what seemed like a relatively straightforward bill. AB 2042 (Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles) seeks to prevent health plans and insurers from raising rates more than once a year.
ARRA Projects Move Ahead for Health IT, Broadband
Although health care reform has moved into the national spotlight, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 continues to develop health care-related projects and grant programs. This update summarizes significant developments over the past few months.
Assembly OKs High Risk-Pool to Protect ‘Uninsurable’
The state Assembly passed AB 1887 (Mike Villines, R-Clovis) that establishes a temporary high-risk health insurance pool program in California.
It’s designed to cover patients with a pre-existing condition who have been rejected for coverage by a private health plan. It would insure high-risk patients here for the next four years, until the federal government sets up a permanent health care exchange in 2014.
The legislation complies with new federal health care reform law, and allows the state to tap into $761 million a year in federal funds. High-risk coverage is expected to reach about 30,000 people in California.
The Slippery Territory of Autism
A treatment for autism called applied behavioral analysis is basically helping those with autism develop new behavior with a system of rewards and consequences.
It’s generally known as one of the most successful forms of therapy available for autistic children. So if it has some success, why isn’t it always covered by private insurance?
That was the central question at a hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Autism and Related Disorders.
Farewell To theWeekly, Hello Daily Capitol Desk
California Healthline’s Friday feature, theWeekly, has evolved to become Capitol Desk.
Where theWeekly provided a rundown of the week’s legislative news and an update on individual, health-related bills making their way through the political process, this page aims to provide a daily report from Sacramento. Since things change so quickly in the halls of power, I will be posting items here in a notebook format, everything from the news of the day to examinations of health policy issues that fall below the radar of most other media.
There is already plenty of health policy news to follow, but there will soon be even more as California begins to implement federal health reform. I hope to give a strong sense of what’s going on in the daily world of political wrangling over key issues while adding context and explanation to help make sense of it all.
Helipad Bill Hits Turbulence in Senate
Assembly member Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) says some hospitals in California face a particularly frustrating obstacle when they fly in far-away patients by helicopter.
“In Riverside, they land on the roof of a parking garage across the street. Marin General has to use a park nearby to land helicopters, and then drive them to the hospital.”
In the transport of trauma patients, saving those few extra minutes could also save a life, Hill said.
Why Small Businesses Aren’t Embracing Reform
The health reform law was supposed to help small businesses. So why have some turned against it?
Task Force Issues Plan for Saving $305 Billion in California
The plan by the California Task Force on Affordable Care is not likely to help the state close an estimated $20 billion budget gap, but it could be an important step in helping the state implement national health reform.
Alternative Providers Could Help Bridge Gap in Primary Care
Physician assistants and nurse practitioners could help California deal with the dramatic rise in primary care patients expected when federal health care reform kicks in. A new bill in the state Senate outlines greater PA responsibilities and reflects increasing reliance on “alternative” providers.