Latest California Healthline Stories
New Los Angeles Program Working To Divert Mentally Ill, Homeless From Jail
Replicating a model already delivering impressive results in other metropolitan areas, Los Angeles County has implemented an innovative, cost-cutting jail diversion and alternate sentencing program for the chronically homeless and seriously mentally ill.
New UCLA Telehealth Program Part of National Trend
LiveHealthOnline, which allows patients to connect with UCLA Health System physicians through smart phones, tablets and computers, is part of a growing telehealth trend.
State Health Policy Leaders Examine Reform Landscape
More than 600 state health policy leaders from all 50 states convened last week in Atlanta to discuss new ideas rising to the surface at the beginning of the Affordable Care Act era.
Steinberg Leaves Health Care Legacy After 14 Years in California Legislature
Darrell Steinberg, a legislative champion for health care causes including mental health and autism coverage, shared his thoughts at the end of 14 years in the California Legislature. Steinberg will be termed out of office at the end of the year.
Mixed Bag So Far for Duals Program: Some Glad, Some Livid, Most Confused
UCLA researcher Kathryn Kietzman, Kevin Prindiville of the National Senior Citizens Law Center, dual-eligible beneficiary Maria Salim and her daughter Teresa Strauss of Los Angeles and Norman Williams of the Department of Health Care Services spoke with California Healthline about the progress and concerns over the Cal MediConnect duals demonstration program, which now is about halfway through its enrollment process.
Vague ACA Guidelines Create Obstacles for New Moms Needing Breast Pumps
Although the Affordable Care Act mandates coverage of breast pumps, a lack of guidelines in the new law makes it difficult for mothers with medical needs to get them, according to moms and advocacy groups. The issue is coming to light in the Inland Empire and other parts of California.
Providers Point to ‘Crisis’ in Dental Care for Some Medi-Cal Patients
Some special-needs patients — including children with autism or developmental disabilities — need to undergo sedation to get dental care. But the number of hospital settings for those procedures in California is declining, and a showdown of sorts has developed around Medi-Cal coverage for such services in the Sacramento area.
Health 2.0: The Customer Is King
Speakers and attendees at last week’s Health 2.0 conference said that giving patients a voice in health care decisions is a priority. The Health 2.0 space has changed from its beginnings as virtual libraries or data storage software to a focus on dynamic personalization and interconnectivity.
Confidentiality of Health Information in PHRs and Mobile Health Apps in California
A California law that went into effect this year goes further than HIPAA by holding many different types of organizations — including some developers of personal health records and mobile applications — to confidentiality standards and medical data disclosure rules that traditionally have been reserved for health care entities.
San Diego Gearing Up for Targeted Outreach in Second Open Enrollment
In San Diego, the second year of open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act will require a more targeted outreach strategy to reach those who failed to obtain health insurance last year, according to stakeholders and experts.