From NPR News
Time for a pop quiz: When it comes to health care, what’s the difference between cost, charge and payment?
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Tag Archives: Medi-Cal
Medicare Provides Few Respite Coverage Options For Caregivers
From NPR News
There’s never a shortage of questions about Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older and some who are disabled. Here are answers to two about respite care and the so-called doughnut hole that limits payments for drugs in Medicare Part D.
Measure To Reverse Medi-Cal Pay Cut Advances
SAN DIEGO — Momentum is building in the state legislature to reverse a looming 10 percent cut in the rate Medi-Cal pays doctors and hospitals. The pay cut is scheduled to take effect on June 1st.
Lawmakers originally approved the cut two years ago when the state was in financial trouble.
Doctors say the Medi-Cal rate is already so low, that itdoesn’t even cover their costs. They argue cutting it by 10 percent will dissuade doctors from treating Medi-Cal patients.
Q&A: Obamacare’s Effect On Insurance Rates, Medi-Cal Eligibility
Q: I work at a family-owned restaurant and my boss has cut back my insurance coverage. I have to pay a lot more out of pocket on top of my monthly premium. Can I find a better deal on insurance under health reform?
A: How’s this for a definitive answer: Possibly. You may be able to find a more affordable option later this year at a new state-run marketplace for health insurance called Covered California.
Broad Coalition Calls for Elimination of Looming Medi-Cal Cuts
An unlikely coalition has formed to try to stop cuts to California’s Medi-Cal program. Medical groups, insurers, physicians and a union support a bill to reverse a ten percent cut to provider rates in a state budget from two years ago. They said payments in Medi-Cal are already barebones, and the program needs strong footing to accept more people under the Affordable Care Act next year.
“Anytime you’re cutting health care, sometimes those costs and expenses show up in other areas. I think that this is the appropriate time to start restoring some of those cuts,” said Republican Assemblymember Brian Maienshein.
Tax Code Goes to Forefront of Obamacare
If you’re among millions of uninsured Californians eligible for government-subsidized insurance, the ripples of health reform start with Monday’s tax deadline.
The government will use your return as its first yardstick for how much of a tax break it contributes to your health coverage. And if you don’t have government-mandated health insurance a year from now, a penalty will be added to your federal tax obligations.
California Lawmakers Raise Questions About Brown’s Commitment to Medi-Cal Expansion
California lawmakers are raising questions about the governor’s commitment to implementing the proposed Medi-Cal expansion under the federal health law.
At a budget hearing Wednesday, Assembly members probed state health leaders about the two options laid out in the Governor’s spending plan – either a county-based or a state-based expansion. In either scenario, the administration wants to reexamine which level of government is responsibility for which services.
Obamacare To Pressure Californians’ Access To Medi-Cal Doctors
In less than one year, Obamacare’s promise to bring health care to perhaps 1 million more poor California residents will be tested.
The big day arrives Jan. 1, 2014, when Medi-Cal, a publicly funded health program for low-income and disabled residents, launches a huge statewide expansion.
But making a promise is one thing, and delivering is another.
Legislative Analyst Recommends State-Based Medi-Cal Expansion
The Legislative Analyst’s Office said the state should move ahead with the Medi-Cal expansion that Governor Jerry Brown recently laid out in his budget.
It said not only could the coverage mean better health for the newly eligible, but it said the money both the state and counties would save would far outweigh the costs in the short and long term.
In choosing between the options the Governor laid out for the expansion, the LAO recommends the state, not the counties, take control. That way, health care services would be more organized and less fragmented.
Key Hearings On California Health Overhaul Bills Next Week
Health committees in both houses of the California legislature will hear bills this week that would codify key aspects of the Affordable Care Act into state law.
The measures are part of the special legislative session on health care called by Governor Jerry Brown.
Democratic Senator Ed Hernandez is carrying bills that deal with insurance market rules and the expansion of Medicaid.
