Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Providers Point to ‘Crisis’ in Dental Care for Some Medi-Cal Patients
Some special-needs patients — including children with autism or developmental disabilities — need to undergo sedation to get dental care. But the number of hospital settings for those procedures in California is declining, and a showdown of sorts has developed around Medi-Cal coverage for such services in the Sacramento area.
How To Pay for Health for All?
We asked legislators and consumer advocates to weigh in on a proposal to offer subsidized health care coverage to California’s undocumented immigrants and to suggest ways the state could pay for it.
Medi-Cal Application Backlog Will Be ‘Down Significantly’ Within Six Weeks
Toby Douglas, director of the state Department of Health Care Services, answered a range of Medi-Cal questions at an Assembly hearing yesterday, including when the current backlog of a quarter-million eligibility applications will be processed.
New Law To Shorten Medi-Cal Application Process for Community Clinic Startups
Primary care clinics that want to take Medi-Cal patients won’t have to wait as long to get started, under a bill just signed by the governor.
Governor Overrules DHCS, Signs Law Creating Children’s Advisory Panel
The Department of Health Care Services may not want it, but the governor has agreed to order the creation of the Medi-Cal Children’s Health Advisory Panel.
States that were initially hesitant to expand Medicaid eligibility now are exploring alternative coverage plans, but there are implications to increasing coverage without state-to-state parity.
New Lawsuit Filed To Block Duals Plan
After losing in Superior Court, health advocates for seniors have upped the ante, filing a lawsuit in federal district court to try to halt further implementation of the state’s duals demonstration project.
Medi-Cal Autism Coverage To Start Soon
Medi-Cal families with autistic children will be able to arrange for applied behavior analysis treatment later this month. Sept. 15 is the tentative start date for California’s new coverage policies.
Bill Linking CalFresh to Medi-Cal Eligibility Set To Head to Governor
A Senate committee and Assembly floor vote last week put red bows of approval on a legislative package to share eligibility determination between CalFresh and Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
Legislature Backs Bill Pushing State To Accept $6 Million Medi-Cal Grant
This week, the Assembly passed a bill to require the state to accept a $6 million grant to help Medi-Cal enrollees renew their benefits. The author of the bill says the state’s rejection of the California Endowment grant stems from the Department of Finance wanting to limit Medi-Cal renewals to cut costs.