Posts Tagged ‘California healthcare’
Medi-Cal Expansion Could Hit California Budget
Expanding the state's Medi-Cal program to meet new federal guidelines could add up to $4 billion a year in costs at the same time California is implementing federal health reform, potentially putting its budget "right out of whack," Gov. Jerry Brown said Thursday. Brown said his administration is seeking federal waivers for some of the proposed [...]
California’s Uninsured: Treading Water
The percentage of Californians who have employer-based coverage continues to fall, dropping from 65% in 1987 to 52% in 2011. While public insurance has partially filled this gap, almost 22% of Californians remain uninsured. This statistic should change dramatically in the coming years as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is [...]
Capps Highlights New Data Showing Health Reform Benefits to California Medicare Beneficiaries
Since the enactment of health-care reform, Medicare beneficiaries in California have saved $410.8 million thanks to the assistance the health-care law provides to beneficiaries who get caught in the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap known as the “donut hole.” In the first 10 months of 2012 alone, 235,245 individuals in California have [...]
Lawmakers Face Tight Deadline To Tackle Health Reform
California lawmakers are up against a tight deadline to get the state ready for the full rollout of healthcare reform. A variety of major decisions need to be made quickly. States are required to launch their new online insurance marketplaces by January 2014. But California wants to open registration next October. Anthony Wright, who directs [...]
Covered California Plan Approved by Governing Board
The board that is meant to govern California’s efforts to build its own health insurance exchange has approved the operational plans for the program. This is a major step towards the state running its own health insurance exchange program and complying with federal deadlines. The California Health Benefit Exchange board, which has changed [...]
Move Toward Openness in Health Care Pricing, Performance
Comparing prices for a knee replacement, tonsillectomy or even an aspirin between hospitals is difficult and sometimes impossible because of all the variables that can have a bearing on the bottom line. Catalyst for Payment Reform, a coalition of large employers and others, such as CalPERS, that purchase care, has just released a brief calling [...]
Most California Workers Aren’t Getting Health Benefits
Fewer than half of Californians got their health insurance through their employers last year according to a new study from UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research. About 19 percent of the state’s residents are enrolled in government health insurance programs for low-income people. UCLA researchers say more people should be able to get [...]
Debating Health Care Effects of Prop. 31
As with any complex proposal, there are strong opinions about how Proposition 31 will or won't work, and those opinions include health and human services policy issues. Questions have been raised about how Prop. 31 might affect state health care programs, particularly senior health programs. Proposition 31 would establish two-year state budgets, [...]
California: Healthcare Reform’s Golden State?
California is generally seen as a state ahead of the times, and it is trying to be a vanguard in the realm of healthcare as well. The California HealthCare Foundation commissioned studies to examine healthcare trends and issues in six of the state's largest markets — Fresno, Los Angeles, Riverside/San Bernardino, Sacramento, San Diego and [...]
Millions Will Fall Through ACA Cracks in California, Report Predicts
Up to four million Californians could remain uninsured after all national health reforms are in place, and about half of them will be eligible for subsidized coverage but not enrolled. National reform will bring health coverage to millions of previously uninsured Californians through the expansion of Medi-Cal and creation of subsidized insurance [...]
