Latest California Healthline Stories
Does California Ruling Help Handicap ACA in High Court?
Does the Supreme Court’s decision in a California Medicaid case last month give any insight into how the Supreme Court may rule in the national reform case to be heard this month? Experts said maybe.
Study Looks at Language Barriers to Exchange Coverage
Communities of color are expected to make up a large portion of the California Health Benefit Exchange population. Many potential enrollees have limited English skills, which could get in the way of obtaining coverage.
That’s according to a report due to be released today as a joint project of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network and the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education.
“We estimate that about 2.65 million nonelderly adults will be eligible for the exchange. Of that 2.65 million, about 67% of them are people of color,” UCLA researcher Daphna Gans said. “That’s mostly Latino, followed by African American, then Asian.”
Are ACOs Casting a Wide Net for Patients?
With the launch of the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization Model in January, health care provider organizations have been working to build their patient bases. Early signs point to a heated competition among Pioneer ACOs to attract a diverse population now in order to reap financial benefits in later years.
Working Out the Details of the Exchange
James Robinson can sum up the ultimate ideal and goal of the health benefit exchange in California:
“We want to cover all services, for everyone, without prior authorization,” he said. “And without having to pay for it.”
Robinson, director of the UC Berkeley Center for Health Technology, was part of a panel discussion at yesterday’s California Health Benefit Exchange board meeting. Health experts chimed in on a series of panel discussions designed to help the board make sense of the complexity of the new exchange.
Assessing the First Year of CMS’ New Innovation Center
In a report released earlier this month — “One Year of Innovation: Taking Action to Improve Care and Reduce Costs” — the CMS Innovation Center summarizes what it’s been up to in its first year of existence: 16 initiatives involving more than 50,000 health care providers in all 50 states.
Polarization Evident at National Health Policy Conference
Marked differences in how policymakers and politicians see health care reform were clearly displayed this week at the annual National Health Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. Most participants found one area of agreement: More research and more data will help the system evolve.
Can Health Equity Be a Moneymaker?
Sometimes the right thing might also be the financially beneficial thing.
Physician groups are gathering today in Sacramento for a conference on disparities in health care related to race, language and geography. This time, the debate is not just about the moral imperative to promote equity in health care, but also about the clinical and financial impetus to make that move.
“The thing that has changed, as more people are brought into systems of care with accountability, health organizations are going to be looking at avoidable cost as well as avoidable risk,” according to Wells Shoemaker, medical director of the California Association of Physician Groups, which organized the conference.”It’s sort of the low-hanging fruit when you’re looking for avoidable costs.”
Sharp’s Pioneering ACO May Raise Bar in San Diego
Sharp HealthCare’s selection as one of six California organizations to participate in the federal government’s Pioneer Accountable Care Organization pilot program may have an impact on how care is delivered thorughtout San Diego County.
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Making a Place for Small Businesses in Exchanges
Health insurance exchanges for small businesses are set to go online in 2014, alongside state-based exchanges for the individual market. Recent research shows that the success of the so-called Small-Business Health Options Program will be based on whether it can offer more plan choices and contain costs.
Getting a Head Start on Medi-Cal Expansion
For a program no one’s really heard of, this one is pretty successful.
Counties started enrolling people into the Low-Income Health Program in July 2011, and four months later (at the most recent count in November) about 260,000 Californians were enrolled in it, according to Linda Leu, a health care policy analyst with Health Access California.
“It is a really great opportunity for those who are low-income, and who have been left out of programs like Medicaid [or, in California, Medi-Cal],” Leu said.
And with an acronym like LIHP, the perfect time to publicize the program is on Valentine’s Day, she said.