Latest Morning Briefing Stories
What the Oregon Study Says (or Doesn’t) About Medicaid
Health care observers have claimed the results of the Oregon Health Study for their own, shaping its findings to fit their arguments about Medicaid and its expansion under Obamacare. Are the results too heavily emphasized considering the study’s limitations?
‘So Many Moving Parts’ To Fit Together
The Department of Health Care Services announced this week that the Cal MediConnect duals demonstration project will not start until at least January, 2014, a delay from its previous expected launch date in October, 2013.
Advocates for seniors’ health care yesterday praised the decision, saying the extra three months will go a long way toward pulling all of the disparate pieces of Cal MediConnect into place.
“I think [the delay] comes from the general recognition that so many things have to happen, for so many people, speaking so many languages,” said Jack Hailey, project manager for Government Action and Communication Institute, and a contributor to the California Collaborative for Long Term Services and Supports.
Provider Cut Repeal Talk Turns to Veto Override
Two bills repealing the 2011 Medi-Cal provider reimbursement rate reductions have sailed through California legislative committees so far in an unusual way: They’ve been approved with unanimous votes in both houses from both parties.
But all those Yes votes could fail on a single No vote if Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown vetoes the bills. He has 50 million reasons every month to use his veto stamp. The savings to the state from the 10% across-the-board Medi-Cal provider rate cut amounts to an estimated $600 million a year.
Budget Revision May Bring Medi-Cal Expansion to a Head
With no detailed plan in place three months after the governor and Legislature agreed to expand Medi-Cal, health care advocates are proposing a compromise deal for dividing $1.4 billion a year in expected savings. The governor’s revised budget — due next week — might bring the issue to a head.
Compromise Proposed for Medi-Cal Expansion
A new plan is expected to be unveiled today offering a compromise approach to the state’s optional Medi-Cal expansion.
Health Access California, a not-for-profit health advocacy organization came up with the plan as a bridge between the state’s rough outline in the budget for two choices — a state-administered or county-administered approach.
More than one million Californians will be newly eligible for Medi-Cal under the optional expansion to those people making up to 138% of federal poverty level. The federal government will pay 100% of expansion costs for the first three years, and 90% thereafter.
Medi-Cal Outreach Gets Big Boost
If the state won’t pay for it, one private donor will. The California Endowment yesterday committed $26.5 million to fund the state’s Medi-Cal expansion outreach under the Affordable Care Act.
The Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Human Services yesterday voted unanimously 3-0 to accept the contribution and directed state officials to apply for federal matching funds for a total of $53 million in outreach money.
“The success or failure of Obamacare will depend on how many will enroll,” said Daniel Zingale, senior vice president for the Endowment. “In this state, it’s enormously challenging. … We have more uninsured here than many other states have people.”
Committee Votes To Repeal Medi-Cal Cut
Assembly member Luis Alejo (D-Watsonville) got a grand total of seven seconds to speak at Tuesday’s Assembly Committee on Health hearing before he was interrupted.
“AB 900 eliminates the 10% Medi-Cal reimbursement rate cuts for all Medi-Cal providers … ” Alejo started to say.
“Move the bill,” said committee member Roger Hernández (D-West Covina). And before Alejo could speak again: “Second!” said Assembly member V. Manuel Pérez (D-Coachella).
That set the tone at Tuesday’s hearing, which saw a unanimous, bipartisan approval of Alejo’s bill.
Managing Medi-Cal With Enrollment Up, Spending Down
We asked legislators, state officials and consumer advocates how California should manage Medi-Cal with enrollment going up by millions next year and reimbursements going down perhaps by as much as 10%.
Bill Aims To Reverse 10% Provider Rate Reduction
Assembly member Luis Alejo (D-Salinas) yesterday said he wants to undo the 10% Medi-Cal provider reimbursement rate cut passed by the Legislature in 2011. The across-the-board reductions were challenged in a lawsuit still pending in federal court and have not taken effect.
California lawmakers in 2011 faced a huge budget shortfall, and this particular cut was made to save the state an estimated $50 million a month, health officials say. Physicians and other providers of Medi-Cal services have been leery of this further reduction, when California already ranks near the bottom in the nation in Medicaid reimbursement rates.
Alejo said he will expand AB 900 — a bill originally designed to reverse rate reductions to one small group of providers — to include all providers affected by the 2011 cut. That includes physicians, pharmacists, hospitals and ambulance services, he said.
“We want to really take a step back and look at the 10% cut to all providers,” Alejo said. “Medi-Cal providers in California already have some of the lowest rates in the country. We are ranked 47th in the nation right now, even before that cut.”
Competition Spurs Northern Expansion in San Diego
Health care providers are expanding their reach in San Diego’s wealthier northern communities as declining reimbursements and changes to the delivery system under the Affordable Care Act alter the economic environment for health care.