Robert Bauer is young, lean and healthy - just the kind of person the government wants to buy into its new online health insurance marketplaces.
Bauer doesn\'t see the need. The 24 year old, a 2011 graduate of the University of Minnesota, works in organic farm fields three days a week, and prides himself on eating well. He\'s uninsured - health coverage just hasn\'t been part of his lifestyle.
Archived California Healthcare News
In Brief: Missouri Releases Little About ACA Implementation; Family Premiums Nudge Upward
Free
Aug 19, 2013
Missouri Still Mum On ACA Implementation
With the implementation of the state's health insurance exchange just weeks away, the state of Missouri has yet to release any information about premiums, and has disseminated little information about the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in general.
A Big Obstacle For Health Navigators
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Aug 14, 2013
A new survey suggests that the American public – and those in the California region particularly – have little use for the so-called healthcare “navigators†that are considered an important component in encouraging enrollment in state Medicaid programs and exchanges under the Affordable Care Act.
The survey, conducted by the HealthPocket, a non-partisan healthcare research firm based in Sunnyvale, revealed that Americans plan to obtain information about their health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act through a variety of sources, but that healthcare navigators and non-profit groups are dead last on their list. Overall, just 3% of those surveyed say they plan to use navigators, favoring medical professionals, friends and family and the Internet instead.
Balance Billing Doctor Keeps License
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Aug 14, 2013
An administrative law judge has stayed the revocation of South Pasadena reconstructive plastic surgeon Jeannette Y. Martello, M.D.\'s medical license, instead opting to place her on five years of probation after finding she engaged in unprofessional conduct for inappropriately balance billing her patients and dunning them for the sums.
The decision by Administrative Law Judge Eric Sawyer was handed down last week, according to Cindy Lopez, the deputy state attorney general who prosecuted the case on behalf of the Medical Board of California.
Kaiser Reports Strong Second Quarter
Free
Aug 14, 2013
Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente reported strong second quarter earnings, allowing the Oakland-based operator of hospitals, a health plan and a large medical foundation to invest heavily in infrastructure improvements and expansion.
Revenue for the second quarter ending June 30 was $13.4 billion, up 7% from the $12.6 billion reported during the second quarter of 2012. Net income was $756 million, up 47% from the $514 million reported for the year-ago quarter. Much of that was attributed to a 59% increase in net income from investments. It rose to $143 million for the quarter, compared to $90 million during the second quarter of 2012.
In Brief: Nursing Scope Of Practice Bill Moves Forward; Covered California Names Health Plans
Free
Aug 14, 2013
Nursing Scope Of Practice Bill Moves Forward
A bill that would expand the scope of practice for nurse practitioners has cleared an Assembly committee by a unanimous vote, just days after it failed to gain the support to move forward. It now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
In States Without Expanded Medicaid, An Option For Coverage
Free
Aug 12, 2013
Some of the millions of poor people expected to lose out on coverage expanded by the Affordable Care Act next year because their states are not expanding Medicaid might have a way to get help, but the strategy carries risk.
Experts say the key is for them to project their 2014 income to at least the federal poverty level, about $11,500 per person or $23,500 for a family of four.
Chicago-Area Hospitals Receive Millions In Grants
Free
Aug 12, 2013
Chicago-area hospitals will receive a significant infusion of funding as part of a state stimulus act.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn disbursed $47 million to 14 hospitals in Cook County last week that participate in the “Illinois Jobs Now†program, which encourages capital infrastructure projects.
13 Plans Vie For Wisconsin Insurance Exchange
Free
Aug 12, 2013
Wisconsin has announced which insurers want to offer plans in its exchange when it opens for business on Oct. 1, but much like Minnesota\'s MNSure exchange, few details are known.
A statement issued late last week by Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Ted Nickel listed 13 plans that have applied to offer individual coverage through the exchange, which will be operated jointly by the state and federal governments. Another nine plans have applied to offer coverage through the exchange that will provide coverage to small businesses.
In Brief: Many Companies Rethinking Retiree Healthcare; Layperson Guides Can Assist In Disease Management
Free
Aug 12, 2013
Large Companies Rethinking Retiree Healthcare Benefits
Many large employers are seriously considering a shift of their retiree healthcare benefits into individual Medicare health plans, according to a survey by Aon Hewitt.
Money Stacked Against Scope Of Practice Bill
Free
Aug 7, 2013
xpanding the scope of practice of non-physician medical professionals has been a controversial topic in California and elsewhere. Backers say it would allow many more patients access to hard-to-obtain primary care services. Those who object say it would take patients away from the best-qualified individuals to treat patients: physicians.
Both sides agree that millions of dollars are at stake over the issue, whether it represents savings from improving access to care, or taking away potential practice revenue from doctors.
In Brief: CDPH Wants To Up Fines On Hospital Errors; CHA Warns Of SNF Closures
Free
Aug 7, 2013
CDPH Wants To Up Fines On Hospital Errors
Medicare to Fine 2,225 Hospitals For Readmissions In 2014
Free
Aug 5, 2013
Medicare will levy $227 million in fines against hospitals in every state but one for the second round of the government’s campaign to reduce the number of patients readmitted within a month, according to federal records released last week.
Medicare identified 2,225 hospitals that will have payments reduced for a year starting on Oct. 1. Eighteen hospitals will lose 2%, the maximum possible and double the current top penalty. Another 154 will lose 1 percent or more of every payment for a patient stay, the records show. Hospitals that treated large number of low income patients were more likely to be penalized than those treating the fewest impoverished people.
United Study Concludes Patient Incentives Work
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Aug 5, 2013
Consumer incentives can be used to cut healthcare costs and improve their overall health, according to a new survey by the Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare.
The report, which was published in the most recent edition of the academic journal Health Affairs, concluded that the use of such program can lead to significantly more conservatives courses of care with similar or improved outcomes and savings in the low five figures.
Minnesota Exchange Shrouded In Secrecy
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Aug 5, 2013
Minnesota\'s new health insurance exchange begins selling policies in less than two months, but the quietude by which the organization has been going about its business has raised concerns among the state\'s healthcare community.
The MnSure exchange has yet to release premium data for the estimated 1 million Minnesotans eligible to purchase insurance on the exchange, even though several other states have done so, including other Midwestern states such as Indiana.
Illinois Expands Medicaid Program; Michigan Continues Medicaid Deliberations
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Aug 5, 2013
Illinois Approves Medicaid Expansion
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has signed a bill into law that will expand Medicaid coverage to hundreds of thousands of low-income residents.
Boomers Systematically Lost Insurance
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Jul 31, 2013
A new report by UCLA researchers paints a sobering picture of middle-aged Californians who systematically lost health insurance coverage during the peak years of the Great Recession, and provides scant evidence they regained it as the economy revived.
Blue Shield Forms Another ACO
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Jul 31, 2013
Blue Shield of California has entered into another pact to form an accountable care organization, this time with providers in the San Fernando Valley.
The San Francisco-based Blue Shield will operate the ACO with three hospitals operated by Providence Health & Services: Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills; Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank; and Providence Tarzana Medical Center. The ACO will also include the Facey Medical Group and the Facey Medical Foundation, two Providence-affiliated physician organizations.
CHA Pushes For Medi-Cal Initiative
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Jul 31, 2013
The California Hospital Association has floated a ballot initiative that would bar state regulators from imposing a bed tax levy unless the Medi-Cal dollars leveraged from it go directly to the hospitals.
The initiative, which the CHA is pushing to appear before voters in the November 2014 mid-term election, arose out of a dispute with lawmakers in Sacramento appropriating a significant sum of the approximately $3 billion a year in federal matching funds the tax leverages.
In Brief: DMHC Trial Verdict Expected Soon; Consumer Reports Rates Hospitals On Surgery
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Jul 31, 2013
Verdict in DMHC Lawsuit Expected
A verdict in the lawsuit filed by the Department of Managed Health Care against a South Pasadena physician for balance billing patients is expected by mid-August.
