Latest California Healthline Stories
Mass. Panic: Did State Wait Too Long To Try Cost Control?
Experts are cautiously optimistic that a new Massachusetts law will be a much-anticipated cure for the state’s rising health spending. But others say that the state’s new cost controls — which could be a model for the nation — aren’t the right prescription for reform.
Exchange Maps Out Plan for Next Year
The state Health Benefit Exchange board finalized and submitted its request to federal officials for a $196 million Level 1.2 establishment grant — essentially mapping out the exchange’s plans over the next year.
Exchange executive director Peter Lee made the announcement at the board’s July 19 meeting in Oakland.
“We have submitted our establishment funding grant, what we call our Level 1.2 grant, to ensure our continued building of our state-based exchange,” Lee said. “The funding request itself is a demonstration of the partnership that is so vital to the success of the exchange.”
Safety-Net Hospitals Face Funding Cuts on Two Federal Fronts
Safety-net hospitals are facing a double-whammy of funding cuts: The Affordable Care Act lowers Medicaid payments to hospitals for uncompensated care and changes in Medicare reimbursements could mean further reductions in payments to safety-net hospitals.
First We Need To Agree on the Problem, New Jersey Doc Says
Jeff Brenner, a physician in Camden, New Jersey, is deeply frustrated by the health care system in America.
“The bulk of federal debt is health care,” Brenner said. “It’s 18% of the economy, and we’re exploding on a sea of debt. And it’s the system itself. It’s the system and the rules we’ve made. The system is headed for crisis and the question is, how fast will it get there.”
“The problem is, we don’t have a common agreement about what’s causing the problem, so we can’t bend the cost curve if we don’t agree on the problem,” said Brenner, founder and executive director of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers.
Insurers Must Pay Rebates, Cover Women’s Services
Nearly two million California consumers and small business owners will get money back on their health insurance premiums this month because of new federal and state statutes requiring insurers to use at least 80% of their premium dollars for patient care. For employers with more than 51 covered employers, the threshold is 85%. Insurers will return almost $74 million in California.
Another Affordable Care Act requirement goes into effect today ensuring women receive eight types of preventive and diagnostic care in their health coverage, including breastfeeding support services.
The California rebate average of about $65 per person might not be much individually, but it could mean quite a bit to small-business employers, according to Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California.
Diane Meier of the Center to Advance Palliative Care Talks About Treating Critically Ill Patients
In part two of a two-part report, Diane Meier — professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care — spoke with California Healthline about how her experience treating critically ill patients led her to become an advocate for palliative care and other approaches that focus on the needs of patients and families.
Breaking Down the Three Health Reforms Taking Effect Today
Defenders of the Affordable Care Act can point to a pair of reforms taking effect today that offer immediate benefits. Meanwhile, Oregon moves forward with its own transformative health care pilot.
Access, Clinic Finances, ED Overuse All Major Concerns for CMA
With health care reform and the state’s cutbacks and reorganization of its health care system, the practice of medicine in California is about to undergo major changes. California Medical Association officials have serious concerns about some of those changes.
“Yes, we are in a budget crunch, and yes, money is tight,” said Doug Brosnan, an emergency department physician and a member of the CMA’s board of trustees. “But there is suffering. Patients are suffering because they lack access to basic services.”
Brosnan was part of a group of CMA officials who met with reporters on Friday in Sacramento to talk about California’s recent spate of budget cuts to health programs and the outlook for reform after the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold most of the Affordable Care Act. CMA officials said they are concerned about the state’s efforts to reorganize existing services — such as the duals demonstration project, or the shift of 873,000 children from the Healthy Families program to Medi-Cal managed care.
Reform Talk Moving From Rhetoric to Bottom Line in Business Community
A new report based on a statewide “listening tour” indicates small business owners in the state are eager to move beyond political and legal wrangling and start figuring out what health reform will mean for the bottom line.
To Gauge ObamaCare Impact, Ignore CBO and Focus on AQC
Which three-letter acronym actually matters most in health reform this month? Many are focusing on the CBO’s projections — but news about the AQC, a Massachusetts pilot project, could hold the keys to unlocking ObamaCare’s potential.