Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Dental Group Warns of Provider Crisis for Special Needs Oral Care Patients
Low Medi-Cal reimbursement rates are blamed for a drop-off in the number of California hospitals caring for dental patients with special needs.
Hospital Funding Measure Won’t Qualify in Time for November 2014 Ballot
A ballot initiative designed to make a hospital fee and funding mechanism permanent probably will have to wait till 2016 because the verification process for petition signatures liekly will take too long for the measure to make it to the ballot this year.
Podiatry Gets Vote as Medi-Cal Benefit
The California Assembly yesterday unanimously approved a bill to reinstate podiatric services as a Medi-Cal benefit.
Questions Raised Over Medi-Cal Estimates
Legislative analysts and consumer advocates raised questions at a budget subcommittee hearing this week over the state’s estimates of the number of new Medi-Cal enrollees and how much they might cost the state.
Committee OKs Bill To Expand Kids’ Palliative Care Pilot Program to Adults
The state Senate Health Committee voted unanimously in favor of a proposal to expand a palliative care pilot program for children to adult Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
Bills To Raise Medi-Cal Provider Rates Unanimously Pass First Hurdle
A bill to increase Medi-Cal primary care provider rates to Medicare reimbursement levels was unanimously approved by the Assembly Health Committee this week. A companion bill reversing cuts in Medi-Cal payments also passed unanimously.
Assembly Hearing Explores Restoration of Targeted Medi-Cal Benefits
A budget hearing in the state Assembly yesterday examined the topic of restoring specific Medi-Cal budget cuts in areas ranging from adult dental to acupuncture services.
Duals Demonstration Project Begins
The state’s Cal MediConnect project has officially started in five of the eight demonstration counties. Health officials hope to move as many as 456,000 dual eligibles to Medi-Cal managed care plans.
Could ‘Terrible’ Medi-Cal Renewal Form Undermine Recent Gains in Enrollment?
Health care advocates say a “badly designed” questionnaire scheduled to be sent to roughly eight million Medi-Cal beneficiaries could confuse people and result in a big drop in enrollment.
Access, Monitoring Raised as Issues for Denti-Cal Restoration Starting May 1
The Department of Health Care Services is ramping up for the partial restoration in May of adult dental services for Medi-Cal beneficiaries, but concerns were raised at a state Senate budget hearing about the department’s monitoring efforts.