Latest California Healthline Stories
State Is ‘Ready, Willing and Able’
The U.S. Health and Human Services agency yesterday released federal rules on accountable care organizations (ACOs). It’s a big step nationally for health care reform — and may be a significant development for California, given the current structure of doctors’ offices, hospitals and long-term care facilities in the state.
“This is a promising new day for seniors in California,” according to Donald Crane, President and CEO of the California Association of Physician Groups. “Where accountable, coordinated care will be supplanting inefficient, costly fee-for-service.”
In health care policy circles, an ACO is often compared to a unicorn — everyone knows what it looks like, but no one has actually seen one.
How March Madness Can Help Explain Health Reform
The constitutional battle over health reform shares unusual parallels with the nation’s college basketball tournament. Here’s a scouting report as the legal fight moves to the next round of courts.
Dozens of Bills Down, Dozens To Go
There will be cake.
That’s the celebratory reaction from health care advocates and many legislators in Sacramento — and literally, there will be a large table of cake at a community center in Sacramento today, where lawmakers and policy professionals will gather to toast what the national health care reform law has already brought to California, and what it’s about to bring.
“Our findings are that, in just one year, hundreds of thousands of Californians are directly getting benefits under the new law,” according to Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, which issued a report yesterday summarizing the impact of the federal Affordable Care Act on California.
Overlooked but Not Forgotten: Three Lesser-Known Reforms
The first anniversary of the federal health care law is drawing attention to its major changes. Here are three under-the-radar reforms that also will shape health care practice.
Riverside County Working on Public Health Medical Home
The Riverside County Public Health Department is planning a patient-centered medical home system at its primary care clinics. Expected to increase efficiency and access, the new system will take about two years to install.
Fearer Ready To Get To Work on Benefit Exchange Board
Paul Fearer, senior executive vice president and director of human resources for Union Bank in San Francisco, brings a rich background in health care purchasing to the penultimate seat on the California Health Benefit Exchange board. Now he and his three colleagues are waiting for the fifth and final appointee so the board can set policy in motion in preparation for the exchange’s start-up in 2014.
He joins California Health and Human Services Secretary Diana Dooley, former California HHS Secretary Kim Belshé and former Schwarzenegger administration chief of staff Susan Kennedy on the exchange board.
“We may look at different ways to reach solutions, but we are aligned in our mission to achieve affordable, quality and accessible health care,” Fearer said.
California’s Hospital Systems Try To Be Accountable
Three major California health systems are embarking on transformative changes ahead of the federal health law’s major payment reforms. Sutter Health, Sharp HealthCare and Scripps Health all are eyeing a range of new opportunities — and challenges — that lie ahead.
Exchange Board Could Be Filled Out Next Week
Paul Fearer, the newest board member of the Health Benefit Exchange, will bring a strong and knowledgeable voice to the exchange, according to John Grgurina.
And Grgurina should know. Grgurina was president of PacAdvantage when Fearer was chairman of the board.
“What Paul brings is a tremendous amount of experience,” said Grgurina, CEO of San Francisco Health Plan, a city-run insurer covering more than 50,000 low- and middle-income city residents.
Experts Chart Direction of Health Care in California and Nation
Although it has an enviable position as one of the nation’s leaders in health care policy, California faces the same market forces shaping policy in other states. Experts gathered in Irvine recently to examine how California health trends influence the rest of the country — and vice-versa.
Do Health Insurers Deserve the Latest Public Hit?
As California health insurers announce a slew of rate hikes, a new report criticizes insurers’ profits and suggests that the federal health reform law remains imperative to tamping down rising premiums.