Latest California Healthline Stories
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.
CO-OP Program Moves Forward in Senate
California took a small step toward instituting a new type of health insurance plan in the state — a not-for-profit, member-governed plan dubbed the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan, or CO-OP.
The new bill was introduced to the Senate in last week’s Senate Committee on Health hearing. AB 1846 by Assembly member Rich Gordon (D-Menlo Park) would pave the way for California to apply for some of the $3.8 billion the federal government is planning to loan to states to start CO-OPs. So far, 12 states have started the process.
“It’s a new type of health insurance, intended to offer affordable, consumer- friendly coverage … in the individual and small group market,” Gordon said. “This bill streamlines the licensure process, and allows California to take part in this program, and tap federal dollars.”
California Physician Groups Vow To Continue Reforming, Regardless
At a meeting with national representatives last week in Washington, D.C., California physician groups said they plan to continue working to improve care coordination for patients no matter what the Supreme Court says in the much-anticipated Affordable Care Act ruling.
Senate Rejects ACA/Exchange Bill
If the Supreme Court overturns part or all of the Affordable Care Act in a ruling expected within the next 10 days, California should be ready, according to Senator Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach).
Harman yesterday introduced SB 1321, which would require the California Health Benefit Exchange to submit a report to the Legislature within 90 days, if the Supreme Court reverses any part of the ACA.
The Senate Committee on Health rejected the measure.
Paramedics Could Lighten L.A. County’s EMS Load
Proponents of expanded roles for emergency medical personnel say a goldmine of untapped health care resources in Los Angeles County is ripe for mining. Changes brought on by health care reform could make the transition smoother.