Latest California Healthline Stories
Senate Health Committee Moves Single-Payer Bill
Many dozens of single-payer supporters crammed the Senate Committee on Health chambers on Wednesday for hearing on a bill that would set up a single-payer health system in California.
The supporters were respectful and emphatic as they all stepped, one by one, up to the microphone to voice their support for such a model. After all of the advocates took their turn and returned to their seats, Senate Health Committee Chair Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) wanted to know if there were any more speakers, so he politely asked if there was anyone else in the audience who was in favor of the bill.
And a sea of hands went up, as nearly everyone in the audience spontaneously and quietly raised their hands.
Insurers, Advocates Face Off Over Rate Regulation
Assembly member Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) said the issue boils down to this:
“In the United States, health care costs went up 3.4% last year. At the same time in California, health care premiums went up by as much as 39%,” Feuer said. “Medical costs are going up, no question. But premium costs are going up much more quickly, and that’s the gap we’re trying to bridge here.”
That’s the point of AB 52, heard yesterday in the Assembly Committee on Health. The bill was co-authored by Feuer and Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) to give the state’s insurance commission the power to review premium rate hikes by health insurers, and to limit them if they’re deemed excessive.
John Goldstein of Imprint Capital Discusses How Foundations Can Invest in Their Mission
John Goldstein, co-founder and managing director of Imprint Capital, spoke with California Healthline about how health foundations and other philanthropic institutions can leverage innovative investment strategies to advance their mission.
Insurance Agents Try To Broker Deal on MLR
Few stakeholders have been as quickly affected by the health reform law as insurance brokers — and few have pushed back against the law as speedily. Brokers’ battle to change medical-loss ratio rules is a microcosm of the broader fight to shape the overhaul’s implementation.
Taking Stock of Three Major Health Reform Laws on Their Birthdays
Last year’s federal health overhaul, the Massachusetts health reform law and the groundbreaking EMTALA all marked significant anniversaries in recent weeks. “Road to Reform” looks back on how the laws affected the nation’s health policy — and each other.
How March Madness Can Help Explain Health Reform
The constitutional battle over health reform shares unusual parallels with the nation’s college basketball tournament. Here’s a scouting report as the legal fight moves to the next round of courts.
Suzanne Delbanco of Catalyst for Payment Reform Discusses Ideas on Paying for Care
Suzanne Delbanco, executive director of Catalyst for Payment Reform, spoke with California Healthline about a growing movement to improve the delivery of care by transforming health care payment structures across the U.S.
How Can California Exchange Minimize ‘Churning’?
We asked experts and stakeholders to suggest strategies in the building and operation of California’s new health insurance exchange that would minimize beneficiaries’ moving in and out of coverage — known as “churning.”
When California’s Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board decided to create a state-run, pre-existing condition insurance plan in October, 2010 instead of using the “federal fallback” program, it didn’t mean complete autonomy for California officials.
The high-risk insurance program is funded through 2013 by a $761 million allotment from the federal government and federal officials have some guidelines about how that money is spent.
To entice more enrollees, the federal HHS lowered premiums on the pre-existing condition plans in states using the federal fall-back program. HHS requested that all plans, including state-sponsored ones, create a new child-only age band, moving it from birth to 14-years-old to include children up to 18. Secondly, HHS reinterpreted the payment plans for subscribers in each of the nation’s PCIP — or pre-existing condition insurance plan — regions.
Blue Shield’s Rate Motives Explained
Could Blue Shield of California’s motivation for making an about face on its proposed May 1 rate increase have anything to do with California’s new Health Benefits Exchange, slated to launch in 2014?
Blue Shield officials say no.
However, whether intended or not, the decision probably won’t hurt the company’s relationship with the state’s Department of Insurance. Legislation creating California’s new exchange grants the state insurance commissioner authority to recommend insurers to the exchange based on the equity of their rate increases.
Blue Shield officials said retreating from the proposed rate hikes will allow the company to more freely address issues causing medical costs to rise.