Latest California Healthline Stories
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.
Individual Market Reforms Called ‘Historic’
Two bills in the California Legislature are reshaping the state’s individual insurance market by “fundamentally changing the rules that insurers play by,” according to consumer advocates.
Higher Cost, Inferior Care: Dental Health in Emergency Departments
More people are seeking dental care in emergency departments as dentists turn away Medicaid patients. Does the Affordable Care Act present a solution to this costly trend, or must states look elsewhere?
UC System May End Health Care Caps, Making New Bill Moot
A bill introduced last week, AB 314 by Assembly member Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), would eliminate fiscal caps on medical care for University of California students.
UC officials said they’re considering their own internal proposal to erase the caps, which would make the proposed legislation moot, but bill author Pan said he plans to go ahead with the legislation to ensure the rule is changed.
“It’s only fair that [UC students] should have the same protections as the rest of California,” Pan said, referring to provisions in the Affordable Care Act that prohibit lifetime caps on care. Even people in high-risk insurance pools had lifetime caps lifted last year.
New Navy Hospital in San Diego Sign of the Changing Times
San Diego’s new Navy hospital, which will have relatively few inpatient beds but a busy flow of outpatients, is described by one consultant as “a great example of what everybody else should be looking to do in their communities.”
Standards Release a ‘Milestone’ for Exchange
Covered California, the state’s health benefit exchange, yesterday released its benefit standards outlining the basis for choosing qualified health plans that will participate in the exchange.
“This is another milestone for the exchange,” said Diana Dooley, secretary of the state Health and Human Services Agency. “We have a lot of hurdles to get over, we still have a lot to do, but this is another successful milestone toward the health care reform effort.”
Covered California also submitted an intention to file emergency regulations with the Office of Administrative Law last week, outlining its pediatric dental benefit policy. The exchange is expected to file those regulations Friday, according to Brandon Ross, staff counsel for Covered California.
Path to Partnership: More States Opt for HHS’ Hybrid Exchanges
“Road to Reform” examines why HHS created the partnership insurance exchange model — and which states are eyeing the hybrid model ahead of this Friday’s deadline for participation.
Health Reform Benchmarks Linked to FQHCs
Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) already have shown some of the results pursued by the Affordable Care Act, according to a study released this week by the California Primary Care Association.
The CPCA commissioned researchers to compare high-cost factors, such as hospital stays and emergency department use, as well as total cost of care, between FQHCs and non-FQHCs in California.
Some of the findings from John Snow, Inc. Health Services Division, a public health research firm based in Boston, were released Monday and showed enviable differences in FQHC care: