Latest California Healthline Stories
What HHS Would Look Like Under President Romney
Paging Bobby Jindal: With Mitt Romney surging in the polls, “Road to Reform” examines what HHS might look like — and who could lead it — under his administration.
Commissioner: CO-OPs Important Option for Low-Income Californians
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has high hopes for Consumer Owned and Operated Plans (CO-OPs), a new form of health insurance that will be allowed in the state starting Jan. 1.
The not-for-profit, member-governed plans are designed for individuals and small groups, including small businesses.
“One of the most pressing issues facing Californians is the lack of options for obtaining affordable health coverage,” Jones said. “CO-OPs can serve as one option available to nearly one million low-income individuals and their families.”
Ambitious Transition Plan for Healthy Families
State officials this week submitted a four-phase strategic plan to eventually move 875,000 children from the Healthy Families program into Medi-Cal managed care plans.
Health care advocates have expressed some reservations and concerns about the transition. State officials have said they’re confident they’re ready to meet the deadlines that have been set for it. The new plan hopes to simultaneously improve quality of care for children and save the state money.
It will happen quickly. On Jan. 1, the state plans to launch the first phase of the transition, shifting 415,00 of the Healthy Families kids to a managed care plan.
Watch Sears and Darden, Not Obama vs. Romney, for Future of Health Care
Sears Holdings and Darden Restaurants are adopting a new direct contribution model for their employees’ health benefits, a change that may prompt other major companies to follow suit.
Governor Nixes Long List of Health Bills
Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoed a number of health care bills over the weekend. They ranged from a program designed to improve flu vaccinations among health care workers, to a proposal to define and promote patient-centered medical homes, to a regulation on hospital-nurse staffing ratios.
The governor had a variety of reasons he gave for the different vetoes, but at least one of those explanations didn’t make much sense, according Assembly member Henry Perea (D-Fresno). Perea is the author of AB 1000, a measure designed to make oral chemotherapy more affordable and accessible for Californians.
“While I support the author’s efforts to make oral chemotherapy treatments more affordable for the insured, this bill doesn’t distinguish between health plans and insurers who make these drugs available at a reasonable cost and those who do not,” Brown wrote in his veto message.
Millions Will Fall Through ACA Cracks in California, Report Predicts
A new joint report from UC-Berkeley Labor Center and UCLA Center for Health Policy Research predicts that as many as four million Californians still will be without health insurance after national health reforms are in place.
New Attention on End-of-Life Care
Partnership HealthPlan of California, a health insurer covering roughly 200,000 Medi-Cal beneficiaries in six Northern California counties, has decided to offer the optional benefit of palliative care to its members.
“It’s part of health care, and part of life,” said Richard Fleming, the regional medical director for PHP. “That’s why we’re arranging for greater availability of palliative care. It’s an enhanced benefit, for people before they’re in hospice.”
People in palliative care are severely ill, but don’t fall specifically into the definition of being within six months of dying. “They need a lot more medication management, and there are social issues they need help with,” Fleming said.
Uninsured Number Dips — But Why?
Census results released Wednesday show a drop in the number of people without health insurance nationally, from 16.3% of Americans in 2010 down to 15.7% in 2011, about 1.4 million fewer uninsured across the country.
Given the weak economy, that was a welcome development to Kiwon Yoo, policy director of the Insure the Uninsured Project, based in Santa Monica.
“The biggest reason for that is the dependent coverage that kicked in,” Yoo said. “The numbers declined by about 2.2% in that age group, and that’s 3 million people nationally. That’s a big chunk of it.”
New Attempt at Rate Regulation on Ballot
Let the battle begin, again.
One of the most contentious health-related bills before the Legislature in the past two years was a proposal to regulate health insurance rates, AB 52 by Assembly member Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles). After it failed to clear the Legislature in September last year, a consumer rights organization decided to take the baton and make it a state initiative.
Almost a full year later, Consumer Watchdog has officially collected 549,380 signatures and the secretary of state on Thursday verified the measure will be on the November, 2014 ballot. Voters now will decide the rate regulation question.
It also means the rhetoric is likely to get more heated than it did in Sacramento at the height of the rate regulation debate.
Senate OKs Oral Chemotherapy Mandate
Health insurers will need to cover oral chemotherapy medication if a bill passed Monday by the Senate is signed by the governor.
Today, the Assembly is expected to concur on AB 1000 by Henry Perea (D-Fresno), a decision that would send the bill to the governor’s desk for a signature.
The mandate on oral chemotherapy coverage would not necessarily apply to coverage within the Health benefits for the exchange, but said he has not yet had conversations with the Benefit Exchange. Bill author Perea said he’s talking with legislators about the possibility of including oral chemotherapy medication among the essential health exchange staff.