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Rate Regulation: a Powerful Arrow in California’s Cost Containment Quiver

Today’s guest blogger is Betsy Imholz, Special Projects Director of Consumers Union of United States, Inc. For the first time ever, the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) declared in late April that a health insurer’s rate hike was “unreasonable.” But that won’t keep Anthem Blue Cross from raising… more

May Exchange Board Meeting

The following blog was written by Micah Weinberg, Senior Research Fellow in the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation, on Tuesday, May 24th. The California Health Benefit Exchange held its third meeting today at an auditorium in downtown Sacramento. The meeting was an opportunity for the Exchange staff… more

Major Health Program Proposals in May Revision

The governor released the May Revision to the FY2011-12 state budget on Monday, outlining several proposals to address the state deficit. Despite newly adopted solutions by the Legislature, the state’s budget deficit remains at a daunting $9.6 billion, down from $26.6 billion. The operating shortfall is projected to remain near… more

CaliforniACA – May Newsletter

Since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), California has taken important steps to implement various provisions of the new legislation. Insure the Uninsured Project (ITUP) is pleased to release the first of its monthly newsletters aimed to keep policymakers, stakeholders and the media informed of… more

HBEX Board Meets Again

On Wednesday, the board of directors of the California Health Benefit Exchange (now commonly being abbreviated as “HBEX“) met publicly for the second time in as many months. With a little less fan-fare than the first board meeting on April 20th, and little more down-to-business demeanor, the Board — still… more

Thoughts on the Basic Health Plan

The ACA permits states to cover individuals with incomes between 133 and 200% of FPL through a Basic Health Plan (BHP).[i] States who choose to do so would receive 95% of what the federal government would have paid for their coverage through the Exchange. This is based on the Washington… more

Waiver Update: CCS Integration Models

While most waiver-related attention seems to be on the DSRIP and LIHP, implementation of the California Children’s Service (CCS) portion of the waiver is also moving along rapidly. The CCS pilot projects seek to test four different models for children with serious and chronic conditions: (1) Accountable Care Organizations, (2)… more

Health Bills Advance in the Legislature

April was a busy month for the Senate Health Committee and Assembly Health Committee. Both took action on myriad bills related to health policy and ACA implementation. Here’s a brief rundown… SB 703 (Hernandez) would create the ACA’s Basic Health Plan as an alternative for individuals between 133% and 200%… more