Latest California Healthline Stories
Fate of Special Session Bills in Limbo
The California Legislature went on spring recess yesterday with the work of the special legislative session on health care still undone.
Proponents of the special session bills hoped to get them through a floor vote by now. One of the reasons the governor called the special session was to get bills passed in time to help set the stage for full implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
There are six bills, total, as three mirror-image proposals make their way through both houses.
Concerns Aired Over Health Bridge Bill
The Senate Committee on Health yesterday passed SBX1-3 by Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) on an 8-0 vote.
“This bill would establish a bridge plan for the health benefit exchange, which we now know as Covered California,” Hernandez said. “It will allow people to move from coverage to coverage within the exchange.”
When beneficiaries have a change in family size or income, their eligibility to qualify for certain subsidies within the exchange can change, Hernandez said. The bridge plan tries to make it easier for those people and their families to maintain the same health plan and provider network, even when circumstances change, and that would cut down on churning (administrative upheaval caused when people move from plan to plan), he said.
Five Things Obamacare Got Right — and What Experts Would Fix
The Affordable Care Act celebrates its third birthday this week. Will it be a happy one? In the eyes of experts, here’s a look at what the law got right — and what deserves a do-over.
As Mass. Goes, So Goes California? Questioning the Safety Net’s Future
Although county officials are worried that expanded insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act could prompt newly insured Californians to turn away from safety-net facilities, Massachusetts health reformers say that hasn’t been their experience.
Geographic Rating Regions Amended
The Assembly and Senate last week introduced amendments to SBX1-2 by Sen. Ed Hernández (D-West Covina) and ABX1-2 by Assembly member Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), which change the geographic rating regions for the individual and small health insurance markets in California.
The amendments establish the 19-region plan, the same regions adopted by the Legislature last year for larger-market insurers.
The state’s health benefit exchange, Covered California, favored the 19-region plan in part because it mirrors last year’s large-market legislation and could avoid consumer and industry confusion.
Inland Empire Provider Positioning for Growth in Reform
On the heels of opening a new hospital and medical plaza, Loma Linda University Health is planning to build a 150,000 square-foot medical campus in San Bernardino. Experts say the health system is positioning itself for changes in competition and reimbursement from health care reform.
The Radical Rethinking of Primary Care Starts Now
After years of being overlooked, primary care — or efforts to transform it, at least — has emerged as a major focus for reform. Here’s a look at the ongoing problems with primary care, and some of the more striking initiatives to redesign it.
Pharmacies, Not-for-Profit Groups Could Help Enroll More Californians
Covered California wants to work with retail stores and pharmacies to help make people aware of and sign up for coverage through the exchange. It also has launched a major campaign to involve community groups in the outreach effort.
Geographic Regions Set at Six, But Only for Now
Floor votes in the Assembly and Senate yesterday approved the first bills of the special session on health care. The bills would eliminate pre-existing conditions as a means for denying health insurance coverage. They also would establish new geographic rating regions to help determine variable rates by area in California, one provision in the bills that recently has become contentious.
The Assembly passed ABX1-2 by Assembly member Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) on a 53-25 vote. The Senate passed its version of the bill, SBX1-2 by Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), where the vote was 26-10-1.
Most of the objections raised yesterday on the Senate and Assembly floors to the two bills came from Republicans who oppose the Affordable Care Act. No one raised objections to the number of geographic rating regions, but that’s one detail in both bills that’s still wide open to change.
How Many States Are Really Opting Into ACA? Devil’s in the Details
From Rick Scott to Chris Christie, more governors are changing their minds and opting into the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, but state legislators are proving a tougher sell — and in at least eight states, may have the clout to derail an expansion.