We Care for California coalition introduces legislation to increase Medi-Cal rates to Medicare levels Senate Health Committee Chair Ed Hernandez and Assembly Health Committee Chair Rob Bonta joined health care providers, medical students, patients and advocates on the steps of the Capitol on Wednesday to introduce AB 366 and SB 243, legislation that would not only restore a 10 percent cut to Medi-Cal reimbursement rates, but would also place reimbursement on par with Medicare, increasing payments rates for inpatient hospital services and most outpatient services. The proposals would also require the Department of Health Care Services to pay Medi-Cal managed care plans at ... March 9, 2015 Medi-Cal, Medicare Medic-Cal Cuts, We Care for California, Legislative Advocacy, Medi-Cal 0 0 Comment Read More »
Physician groups urge CMS to create contingency plans for ICD-10 transition The California Medical Association (CMA), American Medical Association (AMA), and 98 other state and specialty societies urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to put contingency plans in place for the October transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 to avoid possible failures that could result in significant disruptions for physicians and Medicare patients. Now that CMS and the chairmen of the three Congressional health committees have announced they will not support a further delay in the implementation of ICD-10, organized medicine has turned its attention to CMS to ... March 9, 2015 Medi-Cal, Medicare CMS, ICD-10, ICD-9, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS extends PQRS reporting deadline for some reporting methods The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the submission deadlines for two Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) reporting methods from February 28 to March 20 at 8 p.m., EST. The two affected reporting methods are: Direct electronic health record (EHR) submission or submission via a vendor using certified EHR technology Qualified clinical data registry (using the QRDA III format) reporting for PQRS and the clinical quality measure component of meaningful use for the EHR Incentive Program Submission timeframes for other PQRS reporting ... March 9, 2015 Medi-Cal, Medicare EHR, Physician Quality Reporting System, PQRS, CMS, Meaningful Use 0 0 Comment Read More »
Brown appoints Napa public health officer to head CDPH Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed Karen Smith, M.D., a Napa County public health officer and deputy director of Napa County Health and Human Services for more than 10 years, to be head of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). She will replace Ronald Chapman, M.D., who announced in December that he would resign as the department’s director. Dr. Smith earned her medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine and master’s of public health degree from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. She held positions at the ... March 9, 2015 General Public Health, Department of Public Health 0 0 Comment Read More »
Health care coalition joined by Sen. Hernandez, Assemblymember Bonta to reignite Medi-Cal legislation, reduce health care inequality Sacramento – Preceding today’s joint legislative informational hearing to address pitfalls within California’s Medicaid system (Medi-Cal), Senate Health Committee Chair Ed Hernandez and Assembly Health Committee Chair Rob Bonta joined health care providers, patients and advocates on the steps of the Capitol. Newly introduced, legislation to restore a 10 percent cut to Medi-Cal reimbursement goes a step further than in past efforts by proposing that Medi-Cal payments to providers be on par with what Medicare pays for the same services. “Expanding access to health care coverage, as we have done ... March 9, 2015 Medi-Cal State Legislative Advocacy, Timely Access, Medi-Cal 0 0 Comment Read More »
Gallup poll finds U.S. uninsured rate at lowest level in seven years. According to a nationwide Gallup Poll, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has steadily reduced the number of people without insurance across the United States. The group conducted phone interviews (landline and cell) in 2013 and 2014, as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, with a random sample of 178,072 adults in 2013 and 176,702 adults in 2014. The survey found that the nationwide rate of uninsured adults declined from 17.3 percent in 2013 to 13.8 percent in 2014. The lowest uninsured rates continue to be primarily in the Northeast and ... March 9, 2015 Managed Care Insurance, Uninsured, Affordable Care Act 0 0 Comment Read More »
Bill to eliminate the use of tobacco products at California baseball venues introduced in Assembly A bill (AB 768) that would eliminate the use of all tobacco products – including smokeless tobacco – at all baseball venues in California in an effort to protect the health of players and to set an effective example for children was introduced Tuesday by Assemblymember Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond). A similar local measure was also introduced in San Francisco by Supervisor Mark Farrell. Public health advocates, including the California Medical Association (CMA) and youth baseball players, joined Assemblymember Thurmond and Supervisor Farrell at the respective announcements in Sacramento and San ... March 9, 2015 General State LEgislation, Tobacco, California Legislature 0 0 Comment Read More »
Medi-Cal deactivates some physicians in error On February 7, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) performed a periodic review of activity and deactivated all providers that had not billed Medi-Cal for 12 consecutive months. All deactivated providers were notified by letter of the deactivation of their record. On February 17, however, DHCS found that a small subgroup of providers, those with multiple locations under the same National Provider Identifier (NPI), were incorrectly deactivated due to a system error. Physicians who received a deactivation letter and believe they were deactivated in error should contact DHCS at ... March 9, 2015 Medi-Cal Medi-Cal Provider Enrollment, Medi-Cal 0 0 Comment Read More »
Online tool that gives consumers average costs for over 70 medical procedures now live A new online tool that gives consumers an idea of the cost for several health care procedures went live last week. Launched by the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI), an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization, Guroo.com shows average amounts paid for over 70 common care episodes in most states, including much of California. Using data supplied by Aetna, Assurant Health, Humana and UnitedHealthcare, the website pulls cost information from the medical claims of more than 40 million U.S. residents. According to HCCI, the prices are averages of the total payments to ... March 2, 2015 General Insurance, United Healthcare, Aetna 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA leaders converge on Capitol Hill to advocate for Medicare fix This week, 25 California Medical Association (CMA) physician leaders were in Washington, D.C., as part of the American Medical Association’s Legislative Week to urge Congress to enact the bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) and institute a new payment system. The group also asked Congress to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, formerly known as Healthy Families, which is set to expire September 2015. Medicare SGR Last year, both houses of Congress were very close to a permanent repeal of the badly broken SGR ... March 2, 2015 Medicare Federal Legislation, Medicare, SGR, Advocacy, Sustainable Growth Rate 0 0 Comment Read More »
