Latest California Healthline Stories
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:
Higher Profile Coming to Exchange
California’s health benefit exchange is nearing its move into the mainstream public spotlight — but there is a lot of work still ahead, according to experts who gathered in Sacramento yesterday for a roundtable discussion of the exchange.
Yesterday’s symposium, called “Covered California: The Challenges and Opportunities of California’s Health Benefit Exchange,” was presented by the University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy and the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics and Quintiles.
Assembly member Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) acknowledged that creation of the exchange has helped place California at the head of the health care reform pack, but he said that leadership role doesn’t change the 2014 deadline that’s looming for health care reform and the exchange.
New Reform Analogy at National Policy Conference
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius compared health care reform to synchronized swimming this week, an analogy that grew legs of its own at the National Health Policy Conference in Washington, D.C.
Insuring a Better Future for the State?
State officials and health care experts yesterday said the governor’s decision to sign on to optional expansion of Medi-Cal could be a huge step forward for California’s health system — and a huge challenge, as well, they said.
More than 700 stakeholders gathered in downtown Sacramento for the annual conference of the Insure the Uninsured Project heard dozens of experts evaluate how far California has come in implementing health care reform, and how far it still has to go.
Adding roughly 1.4 million Californians to Medi-Cal eligibility in the optional expansion (adding adults up to 138% of federal poverty level) may be fully funded by the federal government for the first three years, but it also brings a boatload of work to the state. It’s worth the extra effort for the sake of beneficiaries and for the savings the state stands to make in reduced hospital and emergency department costs, said Diana Dooley, state Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Obamacare Will Bring Changes — and Walgreens Wants ‘To Fill the Void’
After more than five years of ramping up health services, Walgreens last month took another major step and launched three accountable care organizations. The chain’s executives say that it’s poised to fill gaps in health care, especially with rising demand brought on by the Affordable Care Act.
Finance, Health Care Linked in Expansion Effort
State health care and finance officials met for the first time with stakeholders Friday to outline some of the differences between two possible approaches — state-based or county-based — to implementing the state’s optional Medi-Cal expansion.
Many details of the proposed expansion of Medi-Cal are unknown, state officials said Friday because they’re waiting for more federal guidance in many areas. One important detail is known: the federal government will fully pay for the expansion benefits for new enrollees for the first three years.
Diana Dooley, the state’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, said implementing the expansion will be influenced in equal parts by financial and health care considerations.
How Might Immigration Reform Influence Health Care Reform?
We asked policymakers, immigration experts and consumer advocates how immigration reform might influence health care reform in California.
Access Denied? Implications of Medi-Cal Pay Cut
Can you expand Medicaid coverage while cutting provider payments and still preserve access to care? California officials think so, but patient advocates aren’t so sure.
Exchange Outreach Grants Worth $43 Million
Community groups are eligible for a total of $43 million in outreach grants, according to a plan released Friday by officials at Covered California, the new state’s new insurance exchange.
The goal of the outreach effort is for community groups to help get the word out about Covered California and the exchange is willing to pay for that help. About $40 million has been slated for individual coverage outreach, and another $3 million will go to help raise awareness of the Small-business Health Options Program, said Oscar Hidalgo, director of communication and public affairs at the exchange.
“The idea here is to reach out to communities through all kinds of organizations — community groups, faith-based groups, even city and county governments — so they can help raise awareness and provide some education on Covered California,” Hidalgo said.