Latest California Healthline Stories
Bill on Pricing Transparency Moves to Senate Health Committee
A proposal to ban “gag” clauses aims at making more pricing data public to improve price comparison shopping for individual consumers and large industrial buyers of health care. That said, Sutter Health defends the confidentiality agreements as standard practice.
State Partnerships for Long-term Care Policies Under Fire
California health officials defend the state’s public-private partnership that urges people to buy long-term care insurance, but consumer advocates caution consumers to examine such policies carefully before taking the plunge.
L.A. County Works To Preserve Emergency Department Care After Hospital Closures
Bruce Chernof of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and Jim Lott of the Hospital Association of Southern California discussed the situation with California Healthline.
Ballot Initiative Filed To Expand Kids’ Coverage
Only weeks after a health care reform plan backed by Gov. Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez was rejected, children’s health care advocates have resurrected an effort to increase the state tobacco tax to help pay for children’s health coverage.
California Seeks Fines, Penalties Against Insurers for Claims Processing Violations
Cindy Ehnes, director of the Department of Managed Health Care, and Santiago Munoz of the UC Health System spoke with California Healthline about the state’s record fines against PacifiCare for alleged improper claims handling.
Budget Cuts Could Further Limit Provider Pool for Denti-Cal Enrollees, Groups Say
Liz Snow of the California Dental Association and Carmela Castellano-Garcia of the California Primary Care Association discussed the governor’s proposed changes in the dental program for low-income Californians.
Outlook for Children’s Health Coverage Mixed in California
Children’s advocates are cautiously optimistic about the prospects for compromise health care reform legislation to expand coverage to all California kids, especially after federal funding came through for Healthy Families. But Gov. Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget cuts remain a concern.
Will Health Care Reform Come Down to Dueling Ballot Measures?
Recent history suggests that Californians might be faced with competing ballot initiatives aimed at reworking California’s health care system in November 2008, and a key backer of a single-payer health care system isn’t ruling out the possibility of seeking voter approval for such a system.
Retail Clinics Make Inroads in California, Despite Some Hesitation
California insurers are taking a cautious approach to retail clinics as they open more locations throughout the state, underlining some of the lingering questions over how retail clinics will affect the health care system.
Proposed Changes in Medicaid Rules Could Cost California Millions in Federal Funding
Officials from CMS, Medi-Cal, the hospital industry and patient advocacy groups spoke with California Healthline about how proposed changes to federal Medicaid rules could affect hospitals, patients and the state budget.