Latest California Healthline Stories
Is California Ripe for Global Payment, ACOs?
Reworking the health care payment system has been a key aspect of health care reform proposals in Congress. A major Massachusetts insurer has pushed ahead and adopted a global payment system, raising questions about whether California is ready to make a similar move toward global payments and accountable care organizations.
Anthem Blue Cross of California Rate Hikes Spark Outcry
President Obama and other proponents of the Democratic plans for health care reform are pointing to planned rate hikes for Anthem Blue Cross of California’s individual policies as a case in point for overhauling the health care system. Will provisions on medical-loss ratios and rate-increase reviews move forward?
California Urged To Make Changes, Reform or No Reform
State and national health care leaders agree that California should seek ways to improve the state’s health care system no matter what emerges — or doesn’t emerge — from Washington.
Obama Leaves Door Open to Strategy on Health Reform
President Obama’s State of the Union address made clear that he will not back down on health reform and that he expects lawmakers to follow suit. What isn’t as clear is what path lawmakers will take to move forward.
Shift in Medicare Pay Policies Could Hit Safety Net Facilities
Researchers are raising concerns that efforts to cut Medicare reimbursement rates for preventable hospital readmissions could underscore disparities between facilities that cater to vulnerable populations and hospitals with patient bases that are higher up on the economic ladder.
Reform Debate Drives Question of Minimum Benefits
Cost has played a central role in the debate over health care reform, but much less has been made of fundamental questions over what level of benefits should be available. Is it better to provide a more generous benefits package, even if it means more people will be left without coverage?
Stakeholders Line Up Against Health Cuts in Governor’s Budget Plan
Gov. Schwarzenegger’s fiscal year 2010-2011 budget proposal calls for cuts to health care and social services and raises the prospect of even deeper cuts if the federal government doesn’t provide more money to the state.
Negotiators Prepare To Determine Details of Individual Mandate
Democratic leaders in the Senate and House included provisions in their health care reform bills that would require most Americans to buy coverage, an idea that Gov. Schwarzenegger had endorsed in his own health care overhaul plan. Will he stump for the individual mandate in a national plan?
Immigration Provisions Loom Over Efforts To Merge Reform Bills
Senate and House leaders are gearing up to work through differences in their respective health care reform bills. What they decide on provisions dealing with immigrants’ access to health insurance exchanges will have major implications for California and other states with large immigrant populations.
Pushback Grows as Senate Nears Passage of Health Reform Bill
Despite vocal opposition from Republican lawmakers, Democrats in the Senate now have the 60 votes they need to pass health care reform legislation. Amid the chorus of criticism, California’s senatorial stable remains strongly in favor of the bill.