Latest California Healthline Stories
New Location for Patient Advocate and DMHC
The Legislature on Friday approved AB 922 by Bill Monning (D-Carmel), which expands the work of the Office of the Patient Advocate, providing a single source to help people with all of their health insurance questions when major health care reform changes come into play in 2014.
The bill raised some eyebrows with a late amendment, one that moves the Department of Managed Health Care to a different agency.
The question of where the Patient Advocate position would be housed is politically charged. Originally established in the Business, Transportation and Housing agency, with its expanded role in the Affordable Care Act, OPA clearly needed to be more closely allied with a government agency that deals with the health care reform law.
Molly Coye of UCLA Discusses Innovative Ways To Improve the Value of Health Care Services
Molly Coye, chief innovation officer of UCLA, spoke with California Healthline about how UCLA and other health care systems are taking steps to increase the value of the health care services they deliver.
Bill To Create Basic Health Program Delayed
The two biggest health care bills this year will have to wait till next year.
First it was AB 52, the bill to regulate health insurance rate hikes, that did not make it out of appropriations committee, and will wait till 2012 to be heard again. And now it’s SB 703 by Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), which would establish a Basic Health Program in California.
“It’s official now, it is a two-year bill,” according to John Ramey, executive director of Local Health Plans of California.
FTC Emerges as Another Obstacle to Health Reform Law
The Affordable Care Act pushes new efforts at health care provider integration, like accountable care organizations, that may lead to more market concentration. The Federal Trade Commission is stepping up efforts to stop provider consolidation. Which approach will win out?
Bundled Payments and the Scars of Capitation
Health care organizations are grappling with a new CMS plan to realign payment along episodes of care. California’s experience with capitation and other payment models will give state providers a unique vantage point on the initiative.
Did the Democrats Miss Chance To Protect Reform Law?
The 11th Circuit Court’s decision to strike down the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate raises questions for the law’s future, but also its past. Could the White House have better constructed its sweeping health law to avoid constitutional challenges?
Rate Regulation, Basic Health Headed to Floor?
The state Legislature reconvenes today, starting with a Senate Committee on Appropriations hearing with 167 items on the agenda. The Assembly’s Appropriations Committee meets Wednesday, with 184 items to consider.
Those numbers will be whittled down for this week’s hearings, but generally Appropriations is the final destination before an actual floor vote for any bill that might spend money. That’s why the two committees will have so many menu items from which to choose.
Among the bills that still need to clear the Appropriations hurdle is AB 52 — by Assembly members Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) and Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) — which is the health insurance rate regulation bill. Also up is the bill to create a Basic Health Program, SB 703, by Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina).
Uninsured Healthier Than Current Medi-Cal Beneficiaries
Helen Lee was surprised by a few of the findings in a study released last week by the Public Policy Institute of California.
“We find a relatively young population among the uninsured,” the PPIC policy fellow said. “In fact, more than half were in the 19 to 40 group.”
Up to three million Californians will join the ranks of the insured under the expansion of coverage in 2014 mandated by the federal Affordable Care Act. So it’s important to know the demographic makeup of all of those potential enrollees, Lee said.
Fixing U.S. Workforce May Be a Job for … Health Reform
Health care remains the standout amid the nation’s flagging jobs numbers. Do the sector’s latest employment figures put to rest the “job-killing ObamaCare” argument once and for all?
Should State Consolidate Health Plan Regulation? How, When?
California is the only state with two bureaucracies keeping tabs on health insurers. Should California consolidate health care regulation in one agency? If so, how and when? We asked experts and stakeholders to weigh in.