Latest California Healthline Stories
State’s Public Health Programs Excel at Cost Control, Study Shows
Health premiums for plans purchased by private California employers increased by 138% over the past decade, almost four times more than premium increases for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families coverage from the same insurance companies, according to new research.
Physicians’ Move to ‘Concierge Medicine’ Raises Concerns About Access to Health Care Services
Thomas LaGrelius of the Society for Innovative Medical Practice Design, Anthony Wright of Health Access and physicians Paul Sweigert and Mai-Phuong Nguyen discussed the trend with California Healthline.
Californians Rank Health Coverage Essentials in New Study
California patients prefer a no-frills approach to health insurance, and they’re willing to trade non-essential coverage for keeping costs down, according to a new report, “What Matters Most.”
California Lawmakers Take Aim at Gender-Based Pricing for Health Insurance Coverage
California Sen. Mark Leno, Lisa Codispoti of the National Women’s Law Center, Marti Fisher of the California Chamber of Commerce and Robert Zirkelbach of America’s Health Insurance Plans discuss the efforts.
New Bill, Research Push Changes to Health Insurance Market
A bill proposed by Assembly member Dave Jones would direct California regulators to classify health insurance plans into five categories in an effort to help consumers understand coverage and expenses. A recent study found wide variation in California health insurance policies.
Health Reform Survey Shows Public Ready To Make Tradeoffs
Almost seven in 10 people agree the country’s health care system does not work well for most Americans, but they don’t agree on the best way to fix the problems, according to a new national survey on health reform options.
CalPERS Rolls Out New Initiative in Hopes of Controlling Health Care Costs More Effectively
Juan Davila of Blue Shield of California, Greg Franklin of CalPERS and David Lansky of the Pacific Business Group on Health discuss the new CalPERS program with California Healthline.
Health Reform Déjà Vu: Will Federal Efforts Follow State’s Path?
The similarities between California’s health care reform efforts in 2007-2008 and the current push for national health reform are undeniable, but will the outcome be the same? Health policy experts say transparency and bipartisanship are the keys to success.
Budget Cuts in California Take Away From Expected Benefits of Federal Stimulus Money
Marty Lynch of the Lifelong Medical Care clinic, Chris Patterson of the California Primary Care Association, Sara Rosenbaum of George Washington University and Anthony Wright of Health Access California discuss the situation.
California Lawmakers Clear the Way for Stimulus Money
Rapid action on bills dealing with Medi-Cal and COBRA funding set the stage for part of the federal stimulus money to begin flowing into California. The third and perhaps biggest flow of health care-related funds — for health information technology — will take longer and could be thornier.