California AG intervenes in lawsuit to dismantle ACA California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, joined by 16 attorneys general, last week filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit that seeks to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Texas, imperils health care coverage for all Americans, particularly more vulnerable groups like children and people with chronic medical conditions or disabilities. In California, millions of people receive quality, affordable health care coverage under the ACA, many for the first time. The California Medical Association (CMA) applauds Attorney General Becerra for intervening in ... April 24, 2018 General Affordable Care Act, Affordable Care Act (ACA) Repeal 0 0 Comment Read More »
$1.3 trillion federal appropriations bill loaded with new health care spending Last Friday, President Trump signed a massive $1.3 trillion federal spending bill—the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018. It is loaded with new spending for health care programs that were supported by the California Medical Association (CMA). Unfortunately, it did not include two bills that CMA was strongly promoting – the Affordable Care Act (ACA) market stabilization bill and a permanent solution for the nearly 700,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program recipients. A brief summary of the federal spending bill is below. Bipartisan ACA Market Stabilization: CMA, the American Medical ... April 5, 2018 General Affordable Care Act, Drug Abuse, Federal Budget, Federal Legislative Advocacy, Firearms, Graduate Medical Education, Guns, Mental Health, Opioids 0 0 Comment Read More »
California physicians oppose elimination of ACA cost-sharing subsidies President Donald Trump announced yesterday that his administration will cease making critical cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments to health insurers that help low-income Americans afford health care. This announcement also followed yesterday’s executive order seeking to loosen the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) health insurance regulations. “Rather than taking action to make health care more affordable and accessible, the President’s actions threaten to destabilize the insurance market, increase health care costs and reduce patient access to care,” said California Medical Association (CMA) President Ruth Haskins, M.D. “We urge our leaders in Washington ... October 19, 2017 General ACA, Affordable Care Act 0 0 Comment Read More »
California physicians condemn changes to Affordable Care Act birth control mandate The Trump Administration today announced an interim final rule that permits employers and insurers to claim a religious exemption to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) “Birth Control Mandate.” The California Medical Association (CMA), representing over 43,000 physicians in all specialties and modes of practice, issued the following statement, condemning this policy change on the grounds that it undermines the availability of preventative health care for California women. “Access to contraception is a basic preventative health care service that millions of Californians rely on,” said CMA President Ruth Haskins, M.D. “The ... October 13, 2017 General Affordable Care Act, ACA, Federal Legislation, Health Care Reform, Reproductive Issues, Women's Health 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA, AMA and organized medicine were united in opposing Graham-Cassidy Last week, the latest effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) collapsed, after three Republican Senators announced their opposition—Susan Collins (R-ME), Rand Paul (R-KY) and John McCain R-AZ). Further action is unlikely this year, as Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the Senate would now turn its focus to overhauling the tax code. However, several Republicans vowed to continue to work into next year to repeal the ACA. The California Medical Association (CMA), the American Medical Association (AMA) and all of organized medicine were united in opposing this ... October 13, 2017 CMA, General, Managed Care, Medi-Cal ACA, Affordable Care Act, Affordable Care Act (ACA) Repeal, Covered California, Federal Legislation, Federal Legislative Advocacy, Medicaid, Medi-Cal 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA to tackle three major issues at annual meeting The 146th Annual Session of the California Medical Association (CMA) House of Delegates (HOD) will tackle three major issues—health care reform (on both the federal and state level), physician workforce and mental health care—when it convenes October 21-22, 2017, at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. CMA physician delegates meet annually to establish broad policy on current major issues that have been determined to be the most important issues affecting members, the association and the practice of medicine. Reports on these major issues are now available for comment. All members are ... September 27, 2017 CMA, General Affordable Care Act, Affordable Care Act (ACA) Repeal, CMA Policy, Health Care Reform, House of Delegates, Mental Health, Physician Workforce, Single Payor 0 0 Comment Read More »
California's physicians oppose Graham-Cassidy repeal bill The U.S. Senate is currently considering the Graham-Cassidy block grant bill, which would repeal the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) insurance mandate, underfund health insurance subsidies and make drastic cuts to the Medicaid program. Under the bill, traditional Medicaid funding would be capped. Medicaid expansion and ACA subsidies for low- and middle-income families would be subject to an underfunded block grant and phased out in 2027. This bill would be disproportionately harmful to states like California, which embraced Medicaid expansion and increased coverage under the ACA. In response, the California Medical ... September 27, 2017 CMA, Medi-Cal Affordable Care Act, Affordable Care Act (ACA) Repeal, Federal Legislation, Federal Legislative Advocacy, Health Care Reform 0 0 Comment Read More »
AMA urges quick action to stabilize individual insurance market With the window quickly closing to properly price individual insurance products for 2018, the American Medical Association (AMA) is urging President Trump and Congressional leaders to commit to continued funding for the cost-sharing reductions that are critical to stabilizing the individual market. AMA, along with other groups representing insurers, hospitals, health plan purchasers and physicians, sent a letter urging quick action to deliver short-term stability and affordable coverage while broader marketplace stabilization efforts are developed. Nearly 60 percent of all individuals who purchase coverage via the exchange receive financial assistance to ... April 19, 2017 General, Managed Care ACA, Affordable Care Act, AMA, American Medical Association, Health Insurance Exchange, Insurance 0 0 Comment Read More »
Anthem Blue Cross continuing medical record reviews and patient health assessments through Inovalon In the Anthem Blue Cross December Professional Network Update, the insurer published a reminder about how it is working with Inovalon, a secure clinical documentation service, to meet the patient reporting requirements specified under provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Physicians continue to report receiving requests for medical records from Anthem related to “risk adjustment.” These record requests are a result of the commercial risk adjustment program created by ACA Section 1343. The primary goal of the risk adjustment program is to spread the financial risk borne by ... December 21, 2016 Managed Care Affordable Care Act, Anthem Blue Cross 0 0 Comment Read More »
Be prepared for Covered California changes in 2017 In 2016, Covered California, California's health benefit exchange, enrolled approximately 1.4 million individuals in qualified health plans. It is critical that physician practices understand their participation status, which products are being offered and what changes to expect in 2017. Some of the most significant changes for Covered California in 2017 are: All Covered California enrollees, including those with a PPO or EPO, will be assigned to a primary care physician. The assignment will either happen by January 1, 2017, or within 60 days of the enrollee’s ... December 14, 2016 Managed Care Covered California, Affordable Care Act, Exchange Plans, Health Insurance Exchange 0 0 Comment Read More »
