Latest California Healthline Stories
California Exchange Gets Lots of Attention at Conference
California’s new laws establishing a state health insurance exchange attracted plenty of attention last week at the National Academy for State Health Policy’s 23rd annual national conference in New Orleans.
Insurers Called ‘Essential Partner’ in Reform
Jay Angoff, the federal government’s health care point man for consumers and insurers, told health insurers that they are “an essential partner” in reform. “You’ll have a profound influence on the direction our country takes,” Angoff said at a meeting of America’s Health Insurance Plans last week in Washington D.C.
Jon Kingsdale on Lessons from Massachusetts’ Experience With a Health Insurance Exchange
Jon Kingsdale, independent consultant and former executive director of the Massachusetts Health Connector, spoke with California Healthline about how California could learn from Massachusetts’ health benefit exchange.
California Assumes Lead Role in National Reform
No other state has embraced health care reform with the zeal of California. It has passed a number of first-in-the-nation laws — and it stands to reap the benefit of millions of federal dollars. Other states are watching carefully.
Few Sources of Care for Uninsured in Inland Empire
A shortage of federally qualified health centers in the Inland Empire is posing a challenge for local health officials who are coping with a growing uninsured population. Overall, more than one million residents do not have insurance in the region, which spans a vast territory approximately the size of Maine.
HHS Secretary Sebelius Adopts Initial Enrollment Recs
On Friday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius accepted initial recommendations, developed by the Health IT Standards and Policy committees’ enrollment work group, that aim to improve the enrollment process for health and human services programs.
Medicaid Waiver Big, Innovative and Worth $10 Billion
California officials hope a new agreement being negotiated now with CMS will result in about $2 billion a year in federal money for Medi-Cal over the next five years — roughly doubling the current federal contribution. They’re redesigning Medi-Cal with the aim of establishing an innovative, state-of-the-art managed health care system.
Health IT Moves Forward With Privacy, Consent
ONC’s Health IT Policy Committee recently approved patient privacy recommendations from the privacy and security work group — the Tiger Team — making headway on one of the thorniest issues confronting the growth of electronic records in health care.
L.A., Orange County Weigh Resources To Fight Obesity
As Americans’ girths continue to widen, Los Angeles and Orange County are scaling up interventions to deal with the growing obesity problem that threatens not only the health of California, but its economy, too.
Little Hoover Commission Considers Ways To Optimize California’s Long-Term Care Services
Stuart Drown of the Little Hoover Commission, Eileen Kunz of On Lok PACE Partners, Stephen Moses of the Center for Long-Term Care Reform and Gary Passmore of the Congress of California Seniors discussed long-term care with California Healthline.