Latest California Healthline Stories
Landmark Healthy San Francisco Remains Safety Net During Transition Period
San Franciscans unable to afford health coverage through Covered California can continue to receive care through the city’s universal health plan until 2015, while city officials work to create a subsidy program to satisfy federal mandates.
Lawsuits. Surprise Bills. Are ‘Narrow Networks’ a Speed Bump, or a Scandal?
Complaints about the “narrow networks” in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges have taken a sharp turn, with regulators launching investigations and patients filing lawsuits. Are these simply rollout-related challenges, or are deeper problems to blame?
Why Haven’t More States Expanded Medicaid Yet?
It’s been two years since the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act and put the fate of its Medicaid expansion in question. Many experts predicted that all states would eventually embrace the expansion, yet 22 states remain staunchly opposed. What gives?
The ACA May Aggravate the Doc Shortage. What’s the ACA Going To Do About It?
With millions of U.S. residents gaining coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the law is expected to exacerbate predicted primary care physician shortages. However, the law contains several provisions intended to bolster the ranks of PCPs. What are those provisions, and do experts think they’ll work?
They Annoy Patients. They Scare Docs. But Narrow Networks Might Be a Good Thing.
With legal challenges, new market entrants and recent CMS regulations, narrow networks may be a little less narrow in year two of Affordable Care Act enrollment. But there are benefits to limited networks, experts say, and patients and doctors’ frustrations with the model may have been overstated.
Then vs. Now: How Dire Predictions About Obamacare (Mostly) Didn’t Come To Pass
Early data suggest that the Affordable Care Act is starting to change the health care industry — and if not for the better, then at least to make the sector stronger. Here’s a look at how several Obamacare provisions are affecting patients, physicians and hospitals.
Poised for Growth, Commercial ACOs Also Face Considerable Challenges
Accountable care organizations formed by private insurers and health systems face different requirements and challenges than those regulated by CMS. As commercial organizations increasingly jump on the ACO bandwagon, other private entities will be watching from the sidelines to see if they find success.
Panel Takes on State Health Care Issues
An impressive lineup of speakers assessed the state of health care reform in California at a panel discussion yesterday in Sacramento staged by the Public Policy Institute of California.
From Leaders to Laggards: Why Some States Are Giving Up on Exchanges
Several states that wanted to lead on Obamacare implementation have conceded that they failed at the crucial task of rolling out their health insurance exchanges, and they are beginning to turn operations over to the federal government.
Did California Just Save 2,300 Lives by Expanding Obamacare? Let’s Do The Math.
A groundbreaking study suggests that having insurance coverage cuts mortality risk by almost 3%. Here’s how that would play out in California, where as many as 1.9 million people who were previously uninsured may now have coverage through the Affordable Care Act.