January 4, 2012, 12:05 AM
Attorneys for California’s Medi-Cal program are gearing up to appeal two court rulings issued last week that strike down a 10 percent cut to some medical service providers for low-income Californians. Christina A. Snyder, a U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles, ruled in favor of...
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October 26, 2011, 12:05 AM
The California Medical Association is asking federal Medicaid authorities to review whether the state pays enough to guarantee adequate access to care for patients who rely on the Medi-Cal program. The CMA is relying on a federal law that says Medi-Cal should pay health providers enough to...
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October 19, 2011, 12:05 AM
California’s health program for the needy is approaching the state’s clinics with a controversial request: Send back those checks for root canals, tooth extractions and other dental services rendered within the last year. State coverage for Medi-Cal patient dental...
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October 17, 2011, 12:05 AM
As the country grapples with an explosion in prescription drug abuse, authorities have stepped up efforts to limit access to one drug by arresting 10 people – including two doctors – last week in a Los Angeles OxyContin ring that also involved Medicare fraud. “Prescription...
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August 31, 2011, 12:05 AM
When Gov. Jerry Brown eliminated the Adult Day Health Care program, his administration quickly designated the state's Medi-Cal managed care plans as the entity to ensure that many of the program’s 35,000 seniors are cared for. But the trade group that represents 39 California managed...
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August 29, 2011, 12:05 AM
California Medi-Cal officials are planning to rely on a second firm that has drawn scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department to coordinate care for those who will no longer be served by the Adult Day Health Care program, which was eliminated in this year’s state budget. APS...
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August 17, 2011, 12:05 AM
A Southern California health plan that state Controller John Chiang said “fleeced the state” out of an estimated $300 million stands to gain hundreds of members who are losing services as a result of state budget cuts. Chiang urged the state’s Medi-Cal agency...
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July 6, 2011, 12:05 AM
The California State Auditor is urging Medi-Cal to take a more aggressive stance in resolving disputes over hundreds of millions in drug rebates that pharmaceutical firms may owe the state. The matter has been raised in numerous audits throughout the last 10 years, but takes on additional...
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May 4, 2011, 12:05 AM
Even as the U.S. House of Representatives voted to strip funding from the nation’s health reform law yesterday, California lawmakers were advancing bills meant to implement parts of the law early and make sure people are alerted to new benefits as they become available. Three bills would...
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April 11, 2011, 12:05 AM
A state fund meant to compensate victims of corporate fraud has given out less than 1 percent of its holdings since its inception nearly a decade ago and has denied or made no decision on all but six claims, records show. The Victims of Corporate Fraud Compensation Fund, operated by the...
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March 10, 2011, 12:06 AM
Research from UC San Francisco suggests that Medi-Cal, California's version of Medicaid, could save money and decrease abortion rates by allowing women to stockpile the pill. The study, which was first published online in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, found that low-income women...
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February 7, 2011, 12:05 AM
In an effort to close the state budget gap, California health officials are proposing a “hard cap” of 10 medical visits per year for needy patients who rely on the Medi-Cal program for health care. Some patients and health advocates are calling the strategy a "death sentence...
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January 13, 2011, 12:05 AM
To help close a $25.4 billion budget shortfall, Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed reallocating $1 billion in reserves from Proposition 10, which uses tobacco taxes to fund "First 5" childhood development programs, to Medi-Cal. But that's money First 5 says it does not have. Voters...
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January 10, 2011, 3:18 PM
Gov. Jerry Brown is counting on fewer Medi-Cal users seeing the doctor, visiting the emergency room or spending the night in the hospital - by charging those low-income patients a co-pay of as much as $100. In other words, what's bad for the patient, might be good for the state budget....
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November 15, 2010, 12:05 AM
California is grappling with a fiscal crisis again, and this time the goose that laid the golden egg has flown. In other words, the millions in stimulus funds that helped prop up the state’s lagging coffers are drying up, further darkening an already dismal budget picture. Complicating...
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