Latest California Healthline Stories
Think the wheels of Sacramento politics move slowly? Think again.
On Monday, when the California Legislature returns from its summer recess, the Senate Committee on Appropriations plans to conduct a session that is expected to last 12 hours — and possibly longer — when it takes up and either approves or denies 203 new laws.
If you do the math, that’s just 3 minutes and 31 seconds for each bill — to introduce, argue both sides, have questions answered and vote on each piece of legislation.
How To Build Medi-Cal Waiver Bridge to Health Care Reform
We asked stakeholders how California can design a new Medi-Cal waiver to create the best environment for health care reform to take root in California.
How Reform Could Affect Four Key Populations
A health policy expert explores how the national health reform would affect four groups of U.S. residents. While younger workers are poised to benefit, Medicare beneficiaries may feel cuts.
Berwick Takes Reins at CMS, But Reign Might Be Short
Donald Berwick’s selection to run CMS is among President Obama’s most influential policy decisions. However, the White House’s move to install Berwick via recess appointment has been criticized and may complicate his role in the reform law’s implementation.
Medical Professionals Make Their Mark on Reform
It was Kim Belshé, the Secretary of California Health and Human Services, who recently made an appeal for “not the politics of reform, but the policy of reform.”
What she meant is that working on the implementation of health care reform in California should be a grassroots affair — that politicians shouldn’t lead reform, but rather, health professionals should take the reins to revamp our health care system.
That’s the idea behind the town hall meeting, “Putting the Care in Obamacare,” that’s being held today (Monday) in Los Angeles, according to Leif Wellington Haase, director of the California program at New America Foundation, a nonprofit and nonpartisan group that’s putting on the conference.
UC-Irvine Center Shines Spotlight on Elder Abuse
The pioneering Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse and Neglect at UC-Irvine is helping to propel a once-invisible population into view, an effort aided by the inclusion of the Elder Justice Act in the federal health care reform law.
California Put Center-Stage in National Debate
How much appetite do Californians have for ongoing talk about national health care reform? We are about to find out.
Two California members of Congress have recently proposed limiting or completely reversing the national health care reform law — which provoked an equal and opposite reaction among many state lawmakers. And it has become an issue in the race for a U.S. Senate seat in California, as well.
“I believe we should repeal the new health care law and replace it with real patient-centered reforms that reduce costs and improve access to quality care,” said Rep. Wally Herger (R-Chico).
Fiscal Issues Could Put Medicaid Expansion in Jeopardy
The health care overhaul relies on a significant expansion of Medicaid to reduce the uninsured population. Budgetary pressures that have forced many states to implement cuts to Medicaid ahead of the expansion and uncertainty about federal funding have raised questions about the plan’s viability.
Hope Hits Streets to Get New Ideas
A new organization of health care leaders wants to talk through the problems of health care, but that doesn’t mean that’s all Hope Street Group wants to do.
“We are very much geared toward action,” Monique Nadeau said.
Nadeau, executive director of the new health-policy brainstorming organization, said Hope Street Group has tackled education issues in the past. The group now turns its attention to health care.
Medical Home Model Gains Traction on North Coast
The idea of a “medical home” to make primary care work better for patients, physicians and insurers is gaining a foothold on the North Coast, but many say California as a whole is behind the curve nationally.