Latest California Healthline Stories
State, Advocates, Academics React To Auditor’s Medi-Cal Managed Care Report
State health officials may not be getting enough data from Medi-Cal managed care plans, raising concerns about the difficult task of melding public agencies and private plans.
Undocumented Immigrants Help Keep Medicare Solvent, According to New Study
New research measuring undocumented immigrants’ contributions to the Medicare program has implications for efforts to extend Medi-Cal coverage to undocumented immigrants, according to California officials.
Foundation Examines Oral Health Inequities in Central Valley
A national oral health advocacy organization is working with Fresno State University’s Central Valley Health Policy Institute to identify and prioritize dental needs in the region.
Getting Autism Therapy Benefit Doesn’t Mean Getting Access to Care
Almost a year after the state made autism therapy a Medi-Cal benefit, just 2% of California’s autistic children in the Medi-Cal program are actually getting care.
Prop.13 Changes Could Affect Health Care
Proponents say overhauling California’s landmark property tax initiative — which was passed nearly 40 years ago — could improve government’s ability to deliver health care services. Opponents say just the opposite.
New Urgent Care Center Helps Fill Void After East Bay Hospital Closure
When Doctors Medical Center, a safety-net hospital serving low-income patients in San Pablo, closed this spring, community leaders cobbled together a revised health care plan centered around a new urgent care center.
Program Targets Super-Users of Health Care To Lower Costs, Increase Quality
Elizabeth Davis of San Francisco General Hospital’s San Francisco Health Network Primary Care, Hannah Katch from the California Department of Health Care Services, Marty Lynch of LifeLong Medical Care in Berkeley and Bertha Swan, daughter of San Francisco General Hospital patient Aroytemise Swan, spoke with California Healthline about the proposed Health Homes plan to improve quality and reduce costs of super-utilizers in the Medi-Cal program.
Three Major Systems Join San Diego Health Connect, Giving HIE Big Boost
Nearly two million San Diegans will soon be signed up to participate in San Diego Health Connect, a health information exchange giving area providers access to patient medical records housed at competing health systems.
Surprising Results From Pilot Program Aimed at Medi-Cal ‘Super-Utilizers’
More than half of Medi-Cal health care spending is on 5% of the beneficiaries — but that small cadre of “super-utilizers” might not be who you think they are, according to a pilot project in rural Humboldt County.
Critics Say Soda Tax Not Working as Billed; Proponents Say It Will Pay Off in Long Run
Berkeley residents are not paying more for soda and sugary drinks, according to critics who say that undermines the country’s first tax on liquid sugar. Proponents counter that the tax will pay off in the long run.