Archived California Healthcare News

Across the country, states are featuring celebrities, quirky songs and football game-day ads to promote the Oct. 1 debut of the online health insurance exchanges. Minnesota’s multimillion-dollar campaign, for example, stars Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox in zany situations in which the lumberjack unexpectedly needs medical attention — and health insurance.

The California Legislature has passed a bill that would allow patients to bypass physicians in order to receive treatment from physical therapists. The legislation, AB 1000, was approved earlier this month and went to Gov. Jerry Brown for signature. If Brown signs it into law, it would allow patients to receive services from physical therapists without requiring prior physician approval. Visits are capped at 12 visits or 45 calendar days until a physician must sign off on the patient\'s plan of care.

In its second major action involving Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente in a month, the National Union of Healthcare Workers has filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, claiming Kaiser\'s health plan hired an attorney away from a regulatory agency to blunt an ongoing investigation into its business practices. Marcy Gallagher had been a prominent investigator and attorney in the enforcement division of the California Department of Managed Health Care for years. She had headed up a 2007 DMHC investigation of Kaiser that led to a $3 million fine connected to its star-crossed attempt at opening a kidney transplant program and its impact on patient care.

Detroit Receiving Hospital has used an early intervention program to identify patients who were unaware they had diabetes or are in a pre-diabetic stage. The program, known as the known as the Diabetes Education and Lifestyle Modification Program or DEALM, was developed in conjunction with the endocrinology division at Wayne State University. It was introduced last year in conjunction with the Southeast Michigan Beacon Community health improvement initiative, screens every non-acute emergency department patient for diabetes.

Researchers from the UC Berkeley, UCLA and the Economic Policy Institute are advocating that insurance exchanges in California and elsewhere provide clear and compelling information about the tax credits available to reduce premiums for coverage, lest consumers wind up with a large bill from the Internal Revenue Service. As part of the Affordable Care Act, premium subsidies are being offered in the form of tax credits to individuals and families who purchase insurance through the state exchanges.

The California Hospital Association announced late Wednesday that a 10% cut in Medi-Cal payments to inpatient providers with attached skilled nursing facilities will likely be reversed in the coming days. An agreement to reverse the planned cut was apparently included in a bill that also would dramatically escalate the fee hospitals have imposed on themselves to leverage additional federal funds for the Medi-Cal program, according to officials.

Lawmakers in Michigan finally reached a consensus on expanding the state\'s Medicaid program. The state Senate voted on Aug. 27 to approve a Medicaid expansion plan, known as Healthy Michigan. It will provide coverage to 470,000 residents who are currently uninsured but earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid coverage. However, the legislation includes some carrots and sticks intended to appease conservative lawmakers.

Cathy Hattey, 59, a former factory worker from Warsaw, Mo., isn’t pinning her hopes for affordable health insurance on the online marketplace that opens Oct. 1. Though the insurance exchange is supposed to bring down costs for people without job-sponsored coverage, it won’t help Hattey and an estimated 226,525 other uninsured Missourians. They make too little to qualify for government subsidies.