Latest California Healthline Stories
How Much Will States’ Medicaid Expansions Really Cost?
State officials are wrestling with whether to join the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, but as part of their evaluation process, many are relying on cost estimates that are not accurate.
Important Bills on Horizon for CMA
The California Medical Association, which keeps an eye on all health-related legislation in California, last week released its “Hot List” of proposed health care bills in the next legislative session.
“Given that health care reform continues to be such a big concern, access to care for patients is going to be a big one,” said Molly Weedn, director of media relations for CMA. “And we’re looking at a lot of public health issues this year, like childhood obesity, for instance.”
There are 30 pieces of proposed legislation on this year’s Hot List, including nine bills sponsored by CMA.
How Active Should Exchange Be in Defining Market?
As the California Health Benefit Exchange board refines its design and marching orders, we asked stakeholders how far the exchange should lean in applying its considerable influence on the state’s insurance marketplace.
The Medicaid Mess: Where Do States Stand on ObamaCare Expansion?
State leaders are wrestling with whether to take part in the Affordable Care Act’s newly voluntary Medicaid expansion. Several policy and political concerns are driving their decisions.
Health Reform Bills Move Through Committee
State Senator Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) had a busy day. At Tuesday’s hearing of Assembly Committee on Health, Hernandez had seven different bills heard and approved — including two of the highest profile health care reform bills in California.
One of them, SB 951, would set the essential health benefits for California under the Affordable Care Act and the other, SB 961, would reform individual coverage in the state.
“Last week the Supreme Court appropriately said the ACA is here to stay,” Hernandez said, when introducing the latter bill. “This bill reforms the individual market … to improve access to health coverage in California.”
Expanding Medicaid Called ‘Right Thing To Do’
The CEO of a trade group representing safety net health plans in 26 states hopes other states follow California’s example and make plans now to expand Medicaid.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling on the expansion of Medicaid is unlikely to materially affect the efforts of health plans in California since the state has indicated that it would participate in the expansion,” said Margaret Murray, CEO of the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, which represents 59 non-profit safety net health plans in 26 states.
“We hope other states do likewise. Approving the expansion of coverage to working families with low incomes is the right thing to do,” she said. “Many of our plans in California have discussed the possibility of participating in the health insurance exchanges set forth in the Affordable Care Act, along with the Basic Health Program, should the state move forward with that option.”
Opponents Left With Little but Political Purchase
Last week’s Supreme Court ruling left opponents of the Affordable Care Act little legal foot room to argue against the law, but it provides plenty of political purchase, according to analysts.
State Officials Applaud Rulings, Add: ‘We Need To Be Ready’
California officials who said they’d push forward with health care reform no matter what the Supreme Court ruled are pushing today with much less resistance after the Affordable Care Act rulings announced yesterday.
Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), who chairs the Senate Health Committee, said he was “surprisingly excited. We can take a deep breath now that we don’t have to worry about Californians having access to health care.” He admits, however, there is much more that California needs to do before 2014.
“The ruling establishes a legal foundation for our vision,” said Hernandez’s counterpart in the Assembly, Bill Monning (D-Carmel), who chairs the Assembly Committee on Health and is a strong advocate of preventive care.
ACA Upheld: Why Were So Many Predictions So Wrong?
We mocked their guarantees, but the scholars who were sure that the Supreme Court would affirm the Affordable Care Act’s constitutionality were proved right in the end. Here are five reasons why more prominent pundits led us astray.
After the ObamaCare Verdict: Who Gets the Blame?
It may not be fair to focus on winners and losers, to prioritize assigning blame rather than assigning patients to ACOs. But for the foreseeable future — and for decades to come — this week’s events will be interpreted through a simple lens: who underprepared and who overreached in the battle over the Affordable Care Act.