Latest California Healthline Stories
Advocates, Business Groups Raising Concerns About State’s New Autism Coverage Mandate
Nicole Evans of the California Association of Health Plans, Henry Loubet of the insurance brokerage firm Keenan and Lorri Unumb of Autism Speaks spoke with California Healthline about the benefits and shortcomings of a new state law requiring private insurers to cover certain autism therapies.
Lyle Hurst of the Encore Fellowships Network Talks About Supporting Social-Purpose Groups
Lyle Hurst, network developer for the Encore Fellowships Network, spoke with California Healthline about a program that matches mid-career workers from the private sector with social-purpose organizations, including community clinics.
More Employers Turn to Wellness Incentive Programs To Trim Rising Health Care Costs
Tom Hubbard of the New England Healthcare Institute, Steven Noeldner of Mercer Health & Benefits and Joe Woods of HumanaVitality spoke with California Healthline about the growing popularity of employee wellness incentive programs.
Some California School Children at High Risk for Whooping Cough Despite Vaccination Law
Linda Davis-Alldritt, a school nurse consultant for the California Department of Education, Marin County Public Health Officer Jason Eberhart-Phillips, Catherine Martin of the California Immunization Coalition and David Witt of Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Marin spoke with California Healthline about the state’s new whooping cough vaccine mandate.
Reimbursement for Emergency Transport Becomes Law
It’s been a busy week for Gov. Jerry Brown (D), and it will get busier. Brown has until midnight Sunday to approve or reject the stack of bills sent to him by the Legislature.
Since the end of last week, Brown has signed 104 bills into law and rejected 10. Among the approvals were a number of health-related measures:
Budget Cuts Could Put Developmentally Disabled ‘in Danger’
Yesterday, The Arc of California filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Fresno, saying that state officials have violated federal law by shortchanging programs for people with developmental disabilities.
The Arc, a national advocacy organization that began in 1953 as NARC — the National Association for Retarded Children — changed its name to The Arc in 1992.
“We want to stop the state from violating federal law, with both their direct and indirect payments,” according to lead attorney Bill McLaughlin.
Legislative Hearing Looks at Rural Health
The list of rural health issues is a long one, according to Steve Barrow of the California State Rural Health Association. But it can be summed up by one statistic, he said.
“In the rural areas, we have 30% of the state’s Medi-Cal patients, and we have 10% of the state’s population,” Barrow said.
Barrow was one of the presenters at a recent bipartisan legislative hearing on rural health issues, presided over by Assembly members Alyson Huber (D-El Dorado Hills) and Linda Halderman (R-Fresno).
New ‘Benefit Corporation’ Status Could Benefit Health Care Companies
Companies that deliver health care services and make products in California should be taking a close look at legislation on the governor’s desk that allows creation of a new type of corporation, one that puts social responsibility over profit maximization and shareholder value.
AB 361, by Assembly member Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), would create a new category of business, one called a “benefit corporation,” or B corp as it has become more commonly known.
Huffman says that California is an incubator for businesses that emphasize social responsibility and environmental awareness but that those businesses lack legal protections for directors and officers who put the greater good above their fiduciary duty to maximize profits for shareholders.
Santa Barbara Allowed To Levy Temporary Tax
Santa Barbara County will be able to increase penalties on drunk driving fines in order to fund emergency services as a result of a new state law that barely escaped veto by Gov. Jerry Brown (D).
In the waning hours of the legislative session last week, Brown issued a letter that criticized the method of generating emergency department revenues, although he stopped just short of blocking the bill that had received wide support in the Assembly and Senate.
AB 412 introduced by Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara) becomes law without Brown’s signature. And Santa Barbara County can on Jan. 1 begin collecting an extra surcharge on tickets issued for driving under the influence offenses. An extra $5 for every $10 of base fines can be assessed as a penalty to fund ED services.
How Should Policymakers Deal With the Fattening of California?
Obesity rates in California have more than doubled since 1990, and if current trends continue, more than half of the state’s adults will be obese by 2030, according to new research. We asked legislators and policy analysts how the state should deal with the problem.